Don’t get into trouble using Facebook. Part 1. United Arab Emirates.

Written in the United Arab Emirates. I am from the UK, but I have been living in Sharjah, near Dubai, for 2 and half years.

First of all, if you live in a country like the UAE, you should be aware that the law is different here then it is in western countries.

A classic example is the case of an Australian citizen. She was unhappy about the parking habits of her neighbour. She had decided to take a picture of the car, post it on Facebook and write an unsuitable caption to accompany the picture. She did blackout the vehicle registration number. However, she was reported by the owner of the car. She was deported.

She broke 3 laws. Taking a picture of the car in the first place, posting it without permission from the owner and writing an unsuitable comment.

It is illegal to take a picture of anyone without their permission. It is also not allowed, that any picture or video is uploaded without consent.

Other things to be careful of is taking pictures at the scene of an accident and then posting it online. It needs to be certain that no one is hurt, and people should not find out on Social Media.

Taking selfies in front of a burning building. It does not look good and you are likely to be in trouble with the law.

Insult any religion is also a crime, as is defamation of the UAE.

You should not insult anyone at all. If you don’t have anything nice day say, probably best not say it.

Laws will change, the country is evolving, but getting caught doing any of the above things could see you being deported, but worse still, could land you in prison.