Dubai sells itself as a haven of glass towers and guaranteed sunshine. During the conflict with Iran, that image became a dangerous lie, and the tourists who documented the truth are the ones paying for it, in some of the region's harshest jails.
What is happening
Since the outbreak of the Iran-UAE conflict, drones and missiles have struck Dubai repeatedly, near Dubai International Airport, along the Marina, and at high-rise hotels, including the Palm Jumeirah Fairmont, hit by a Shahed drone. Yet the official line has been flat denial: even after a drone sent a pall of smoke over the airport, the Dubai Media Office insisted "no incident" had occurred.
The staged images of Dubai's rulers strolling through shopping malls are propaganda. The reality is that those who can afford to leave are fleeing; hotels have been ordered to close rooms above the tenth floor; and international firms have evacuated staff from the financial centre. Behind the curated calm, the authorities have turned their fire on something else entirely: information.
The law that catches you out
Under the UAE's cybercrime and "national security and stability" laws, photographing or filming a drone strike, a missile, a fire or any security incident is a serious criminal offence. So is sharing such an image. Most alarming of all, even passively receiving an image, a video forwarded to your phone by a friend, can itself be illegal.
The penalties are severe: up to ten years in prison, and fines of up to £200,000. The system is now so swamped with arrests that those detained can wait months before they are even charged.
What this means for you
If you are in the UAE, assume that any photo or video of an explosion, drone, fire, aircraft or security response, taken, shared, or merely sitting in your messages, could put you in prison for years. Tourists, expatriates and airline cabin crew have already been arrested. A holiday snap is not worth a decade of your life.
How to protect yourself
- Do not photograph or film any explosion, drone, missile, fire, airport disruption or security incident, even from your hotel window.
- Do not share, forward or post such images or videos, on any platform or private chat.
- Remember that receiving an image can be an offence. Ask contacts not to send you footage while you are in the UAE.
- Do not post commentary on the conflict on social media while in the country.
- Assume your phone may be searched at checkpoints, hotels or the airport.
- If in doubt, capture nothing. The safest record is no record.
If you or someone you know is arrested
Stay calm and ask for consular access immediately. Do not sign documents you do not understand or that are only in Arabic. Contact Dubai Watch in confidence at info@dubaiwatch.org, we are already representing Britons caught by these laws and can help you find specialist support.
The bigger picture
This is not a one-off wartime measure. It is the same machinery Dubai Watch documents across every case we take on: a state that criminalises inconvenient truth to protect a brand. The war simply made it visible. Know the law before you go, because in the UAE, the camera in your pocket can be used against you.
Sources: "Reality of the iron fist behind Dubai 'paradise'", by David Haigh, Daily Mail, 12 March 2026; "Emirates' war on information: Seventy Britons arrested in UAE", The Mail on Sunday, 28 March 2026 (quoting Dubai Watch); Dubai Watch case files.
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