Compliance with UAE Anti-Hate Law
UAE Anti-hate Law
Main provisions from UAE Anti-hate Law
1. Criminalises any acts that stoke religious hatred
2. Criminalises any act that insults religion through any form of expression, be it speech or the written word, books, pamphlets or online
3. Punishes anyone for terming other religious groups or individuals as infidels, or unbelievers
4. Provides a sound foundation for the environment of tolerance, broad-mindedness and acceptance in the UAE
5. Aims to safeguard people regardless of their origin, beliefs or race, against acts that promote religious hate and intolerance
6. Includes jail terms of six months to more than 10 years for those who break the law
7. Includes fines of between Dh50,000 and Dh2 million for those who break the law
8. Prohibits any act that would be considered as insulting God, His prophets or apostles or holy books or houses of worship or graveyards
9. Makes it illegal to discriminate against individuals or groups on the basis of religion, caste, doctrine, race, colour or ethnic origin
10. Prohibits any entity or group established specifically to provoke religious hatred
11. Recommends stringent punishments for groups or supporters of any organisations or individuals that are associated with hate crimes
12. Prohibits any kind of events such as conferences and meetings within the UAE
organised with the sole purpose of sowing seeds of discrimination, discord or hatred against individuals or groups on the basis of faith, origin or race
13. Makes it illegal to receive financial support to fund activities that propagate hate
14. Encourages anyone involved in any activity that violates the law to voluntarily submit themselves before the authorities
15. Allows courts to waive penalties where people voluntarily submit themselves to authorities
16. Dovetails with other existing laws to protect specially privileged groups such as women, children and individuals with disabilities or others
Cyber Crimes Law-UAE
UAE’s Federal Law No 5 of 2012, also known as the Cyber Crimes law states that individuals can be prosecuted for publishing pictures of individuals without their consent, as well as making offensive statements about them.
Individuals who disrespect Islam and make statements that breach good morals and conduct may also face legal punishment. Individuals can be prosecuted for making statements that are disrespectful towards Islam, morals and good conduct.
These include posting comments or images that ‘encourage sin’, slander another person or breach the privacy of individuals — including taking photographs or publishing information about another without their permission.
According to the UAE’s official Federal Decree Law No (5) on combating cyber crimes, it is illegal to invade someone’s privacy by “photographing others or creating, transferring, disclosing, copying or saving electronic photos [in addition to] publishing news, electronic photos or photographs, scenes, comments, statements or information” without permission.
Making slanderous statements and insulting others can be punishable by imprisonment, a fine, and even deportation.
Members of the public are urged to report any wrongdoing to authorities, and to show the police documented evidence they may have of the crime, without posting the information online.