UAE law foundations
The Emirati instruments that most often govern online harm, personal data and content, and how they differ from common-law expectations.
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The UAE cybercrime law: Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021
The Emirati cybercrime law reaches conduct that in most common-law jurisdictions would be a private dispute or no dispute at all, and it reaches some conduct committed outside the country entirely.
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Defamation in the UAE: a criminal complaint, not a civil claim
The single largest divergence between Emirati and common-law practice is that truth is not a general defence. A factually accurate criticism can still be a criminal offence.
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Data protection in the UAE: three regimes in one country
The federal law has been in force since 2022 but is not yet an operative enforcement regime. The free zones are a different story — and one of them now lets data subjects sue directly for distress.