United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Sunday, ordered the arrest of 35 individuals, including 19 Indians, accused of ‘publishing video clips on social media platforms that contained misleading and fabricated content’ amid tensions in the Gulf nation that were triggered by the ongoing Iran-US-Israel war.
The latest list released includes 25 individuals of various nationalities, among them 17 Indians, who have been booked under different sections. This is separate from the 10 people — including two Indians — who were named and ordered to be arrested on Saturday, reported news wire PTI.
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) official news agency Wam said the accused have been referred for an expedited trial.
What are the charges against the accused?
According to authorities, the first group of 10 accused had published and circulated authentic video clips showing the movement and interception of missiles in the country’s airspace, as well as the impact of strikes.
This group comprised five Indians, one Pakistani, one Nepali, two Filipinos, and one Egyptian.
They also filmed groups of people watching these events and added commentary and sound effects that suggested ongoing attacks, which officials said could incite public anxiety and panic.
‘Content created through AI’
The second group published fabricated visual content created through AI or recirculated footage of incidents from outside the country while falsely claiming they occurred within it. These clips contained synthetic scenes of explosions and missiles, often featuring national flags or specific dates to grant credibility to false claims and mislead the public, said a statement released by Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shams.
This group, comprising seven individuals, includes five Indians and one each from Nepal and Bangladesh.
‘…content glorifying hostile state’
The third group of six accused published content glorifying a hostile state and its political and military leadership, promoting its regional military aggressions as achievements. This involved praising leaders of that state and recirculating propaganda that serves hostile media discourse and harms national interests, the statement added.
In this, five of the six accused are Indians, and one is Pakistani.
The developments come amid the ongoing Israel-US-Iran conflict which crossed its second week on Saturday, 14 March. Explosions were reported across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, among other Gulf cities – after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Saturday, 28 February, in response to Israel, US’ joint attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Gulf countries report fresh attacks
On Sunday, 15 March, Gulf countries reported new attacks, as per PTI. This comes a day after Iran called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates, threatening for the first time a neighbouring country’s non-US assets.
Tehran accused the United States of using “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Kharg Island, home to the main terminal handling Iran’s oil exports.
(with inputs from agencies)
