Misleading advertisement, promotions punishable offence in UAE

Misleading consumers through advertisements and promotions is a punishable offense, the UAE Public Prosecution has said.

The authority published a video on its social media accounts, highlighting the penalty for such violations.

عقوبة الاعلان او الترويج المضلل للمستهلك #قانون #ثقف_نفسك #ثقافة_قانونية #خلك_حكيم #الامارات #الامارات_العربية_المتحدة #النيابة_العامة_الاتحادية pic.twitter.com/BenGCB8gpV

— النيابة العامة (@UAE_PP) June 12, 2022

The Public Prosecution noted that, as per Article 48 of the Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Combatting Rumours and Cybercrimes, imprisonment and a fine of not less than Dhs20,000 and not more than Dhs500,000, or one of the two, shall be the punishment of any person who – through information networks, information technology solutions or online platforms – commits any of the following:

1- Promoting goods or services through misleading advertisement or using false data.
2- Advertising, promoting, brokering, or dealing in any form, or encouraging the dealing in a virtual or digital currency, a stored value unit, or any unit of payment that is not officially recognised in the UAE or without obtaining a license from the competent authority.

The video forms part of the Public Prosecution’s efforts to increase awareness about the latest legislations in the country, official news agency WAM reported.

The country’s Public Prosecution had announced earlier this year that spreading rumours and false information was a punishable offence in the UAE too.

Read: Spreading rumours, false news punishable offence in UAE

The use of the Internet Protocol address for committing a crime or evading its discovery is also a punishable crime in the country.

Read: Circumventing IP address with malicious intent now punishable offence in UAE