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Topics: UK News, World News, Iran
Poppy Bilderbeck
Topics: UK News, World News, Iran
A man has been charged under cybercrime laws after allegedly filming an Iranian missile strike on Dubai.
On Monday (9 March), a 60-year-old British national was arrested and taken into custody at a police station in the area of Bur Dubai.
The man is understood to be from London and was on holiday in Dubai at the time of his arrest, as reported by The Telegraph.
It's not known if the footage the man allegedly recorded was shared on social media.
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Campaign group Detained in Dubai has since spoken out following the man's arrest, telling the BBC the formal charges against him are 'very vague'.
Detained in Dubai CEO, Radha Stirling, said: "I've reviewed the charge sheet and from reading it you wouldn't know what they've done wrong."
Stirling said the man had said that he deleted the video from his phone when asked and had no intention of doing anything wrong.
It follows the organisation 'seeing more and more people being charged under the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) cybercrime rules'.
But what are the rules?
Well, HAS Law Firm explains: "The country’s Cybercrimes Law (Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021) addresses a wide range of online offences, from sharing illegal content to hacking and cyber extortion."
It details that in the UAE, content which violates the law can include 'posting content that harms public safety or the public order'.
Since the US launched a joint attack with Israel on Iran, with Iran then attacking Gulf countries, UAE authorities have warned tourists, expats and influencers against posting material of the conflict.
And if people fail to listen, they could face some serious consequences.
Any content posted which is deemed a threat to 'public order' or 'national unity' could risk a fine of up to $77,000 ($58,000) or imprisonment, as per The Telegraph.
Stirling told the BBC that it can be hard to take the warnings seriously 'when you're there and everyone else seems to be sharing these photos'.
"A lot of people are just going to forget or get caught up in everything," she noted.
However, she warned against such 'negligence', hammering home that it's 'very serious' to disobey the rules in the UAE.
If convicted under the UAE's cybercrime laws, the 60-year-old British man could face a fine of tens of thousands of pounds or up to two years in prison, risking a longer sentence if the crime he stands accused of is seen as implicating national security.
It's reported that his family is being supported by Foreign Office officials and they've been allowed to speak to him.
Detained in Dubai said the man was one of 21 people charged under cybercrime laws in connection with videos and social media posts related to the recent missile strikes.
LADbible Group has reached out to Detained in Dubai, the UK Foreign Office and the UAE government for comment.