Cybercrime is taken seriously in the UAE, and it’s essential to know your rights and the latest updates to the law surrounding the matter. It’s considered a broad category that generally covers incidents like cyber financial fraud, hacking, online money laundering, phishing, and digital harassment. As technology evolves, so does Dubai cybercrime law. This way, authorities can keep up with the changes as offenders become bolder and craftier each time. It’s also good to know the series of amendments issued to that law, such as harsher sanctions and penalties for offenders, and how these changes could impact you and your organization.
The recent change to the Dubai cybercrime law is known as the Federal Decree-Law No. 2 of 2018 or the Amending Decree. It was issued to amend some provisions of Federal Decree-Law No.5 of 2012 to combat newer IT crimes. The changes in the Amending Decree are as follows:
- A minimum of five years’ imprisonment and a fine of AED 2,000,000 or imprisonment between 10 and 25 years with as much as AED 4,000,000 in fines for anyone running, managing, or establishing a website or publishing any electronic information that promotes unauthorized organizations and terrorist groups.
Publication, retransmission, or uploading of content from such sites is now considered a punishable offense with up to five years of imprisonment and a fine of up to AED 1,000,000. The court may send offenders for counseling or order electronic surveillance to prevent them from using any form of IT media for a particular time.
- Without prejudice to the Penal Code provisions, UAE courts could deport any foreigner found guilty of violating Dubai cybercrime law.
- An offense under Article 28 of running, managing, or establishing a website or using electronic information to incite acts that could endanger state interests, public security, or national security has been expanded to cover acts that could also endanger law enforcement and judicial officers.
Site Title 