Advertising Activities In The UAE – Legal Aspects
Advertising activities in the Emirates are widely used for commercial purposes on television and radio broadcasts, social networks, Internet resources, the media, and so on.
The legislation of the Emirates differs from the legislation of other non-Muslim countries in the presence of Sharia norms.
For example, advertisements must not contain the following:
– criticism about politics, nationality, and religion;
– details and data about personal life;
– untrue and deliberately false information;
– minutes of government meetings and court hearings;
– data, materials, and photos that violate public and moral principles;
– distribution of tobacco and alcohol products;
– trade in prohibited substances that affect the mind;
– data related to witchcraft and the occult;
– health care products without proper authorization;
– activities related to gambling.
The primary condition for conducting advertising activities is the availability of a license on state registration of a legal entity. In the future, the advertiser must approve the content of the advertisement for the presence of prohibited or incorrect information.
Advertising activities and advertisements are controlled by the Ministry of Information and Culture, Media Counsel, and the Department of Economic Activities based on the UAE Law No. 15 “On Publishing House” of 1980 and other regulatory legal acts, including the UAE Law No. 5 “On Cyber Crimes” of 2012.
It is the advertiser’s responsibility to use truthful information, as well as to include full information about the company and its logo in the advertisement, to use authorized media and other information.
Violation of advertising activities may result in administrative, civil, and criminal liability. The supervisory authority may decide to impose sanctions on the advertiser in the form of a fine, removal or blocking of the advertisement, suspension, and revocation of the license.