Emirati Sent to Jail Over 'False Tweets'
UAE media law allows wide latitude for crackdown on critical reporting.
An Emirati accused of spreading "false news" about the sedition trial in the United Arab Emirates lost his appeal on May 22 and will head to prison for 10 months.
An analysis of Abdullah Al Haddidi’s offending tweets shows he was engaged in criticism of the trial and providing information about the case to his followers.
Al Haddidi was charged with Article 265 of the Penal Code, which makes it a crime to describe a court hearing without “honesty and in bad faith.” In essence, the law makes it a crime to disseminate false news — and the police and courts decide what communication is truthful.
In countries with robust protections for a free press, laws against “false news” have been ruled incompatible with free expression. The truth, after all, can be subjective, and such laws have been used to suppress speech that governments find embarrassing or inconvenient.
