The strengthening of the UAE Cybercrimes Law, with jail terms of up to 25 years and fines up to Dh4 million, is a welcome step in the fight to combat criminals supporting terrorist groups and unauthorised entities.
President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued Emiri decree No 2 of 2018, amending the UAE Cybercrimes Law, last week. According to the decree, Article numbers 26, 28 and 42 of federal decree-law No 5 of 2012 on combating cybercrimes will be replaced with updated provisions. These new provisions include imprisonment between 10 and 25 years and a fine between Dh2 million and Dh4 million for anyone found associated with or propagating information for the interest of terrorist groups or unauthorised associations.
The stringent amendments will not only help make the UAE society an even safer place to live in, but also significantly augment the national security apparatus in combating the destructive ideologies of hatred that seek a clandestine foothold in the country.
Cybercriminals managed to extort nearly Dh4 billion from consumers in the UAE in 2017, according to the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, and 52 per cent of the UAE respondents surveyed in the report said they experienced cybercrime.
However, those are statistics for the more visible and widely publicised aspect of cybercrime around the world. The tightened Cybercrime Law goes a step further in successfully addressing the mostly unseen or intangible aspect of cybercrime — which includes promoting ideas and acts supportive of terrorism and attempting to malign the reputation and cultural heritage of the UAE through false propaganda. The new law thus tackles the issue of any attempted destabilisation of public order by stipulating temporary imprisonment and at least a Dh1 million fine for anyone found using cyberspace to publish or transmit information, news or cartoons and pictures that could endanger national security or be deemed as attacks on any member of the judicial system.
For any law to succeed, it needs the full cooperation of the land where it is applicable — and therefore the people of UAE must be vigilant at all times to detect any malicious cybercrime that intends to destabilise the society. The UAE has gained a stellar reputation around the world as a haven of peace and stability in a region surrounded by strife and turmoil. In order to maintain and further grow that status, the country has always been at the forefront of proactively combating any threat to its national security and integrity — and the strengthened UAE Cybercrimes Law will help achieve just that.
