The UAE on Sunday ordered the arrest of 35 individuals, including 19 Indians, for publishing video clips on social media platforms that contained misleading and fabricated content amid regional tensions due to the Israel-US-Iran war.
The United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) official news agency Wam said the accused have been referred for an expedited trial.
The latest list has 25 individuals of various nationalities, including 17 Indians, listed under different sections, separate from the 10 people, including two Indians, who were named and ordered to be arrested on Saturday.
According to a statement released by the Attorney-General Dr Hamad Saif Al Shams, the move follows rigorous monitoring of digital platforms to combat the spread of fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine general stability.
“Investigations and electronic monitoring revealed that the defendants were divided into three groups that committed various acts. These included the publication of real clips related to current events, the fabrication of clips using AI, and the promotion of a state practising acts of military aggression while glorifying its leadership and military actions,” it said.
The first group of 10 accused published and circulated authentic video clips documenting the passage and interception of missiles on the country’s airspace or the resulting impact. They also filmed gatherings of individuals monitoring these events, appending commentary and sound effects suggesting active aggressions to incite public anxiety and panic.
Such footage risked exposing defensive capabilities and allowing hostile accounts to promote misleading narratives, the statement said.
This group comprised five Indians, one Pakistani, one Nepali, two Filipinos, and one Egyptian.
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, it said.
This group, comprising seven individuals, includes five Indians and one each from Nepal and Bangladesh.
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.
Two other individuals, both Indians, also face charges for similar offences, the statement said.
Earlier on Saturday, a Wam report quoted Attorney-General Shamsi as saying that the public prosecution has commenced interrogating the 10 defendants and ordered their remand in custody.
The attorney-general explained that such acts constitute crimes punishable under the law by imprisonment for a period of no less than one year and a fine of no less than AED 1,00,000.
“Such events have been exploited to disseminate misinformation intended to deliberately mislead the public while undermining national security, order and stability,” he said.
Dr Al Shamsi said the under trial circulated fabricated footage created using AI to falsely suggest explosions, strikes on prominent landmarks, or large fires with rising smoke across various areas of the UAE.
“The incidents also involved exploiting children’s emotions in videos falsely implying security threats. Other footage claimed the destruction of military facilities within the country or attributed foreign incidents to UAE locations, aiming to mislead public opinion and spread anxiety,” Shamsi added.
