Over 20 people arrested in Dubai, including a British man, for posting videos of drone strikes

[JaneFondue]

Over 20 people arrested in Dubai for sharing drone strike videos on social media | The Standard
Says it all.

Basically by posting videos such as that on SM, visible to the whole world, the poster is providing the opposition (Iran in this case) with info on just how good their targetting is and also helping them at a simplistic level with Battle Damage Assessment...(BDA).

Regardless of your views on the UAE, filming strikes and then rebroadcasting the same might well be pushing your luck in any conflict zone.

By way of comparision Ukrainian authorities have, over the last four years, got similarly bent out of shape over videos and images posted by private individuals and some of the MSM for exactly the same reason.

I followed few influencers who lived there. Had to unfollow because every single post/story was about how good they are at dealing with things and how safe it feels. They are all back to their countries now and their opinions suddenly changed.

It's a special kind of stupid to do that.

It's a war not "content" for social media.

I do hope they jail him.

I have a friend in Abu Dhabi. Not even an influencer. Works in finance. Used to post pix of books and cats until now. Now every post is about how safe she feels.

Only goes one way.

Only goes one way.

Problem is the ordnance doesn't......

Loose lips sink ships.

Especially when the govt has spent so much on influencers.

Yep this. I’ve seen it from my family and friends who live there. Gushing social media posts. Really really off.

I must admit that I really did have a head shake at one "influencer".

I'm old school where war correspondents wear helmets and flak jackets facing the camera full on with a serious expression. So to get war commentary from someone in a thong bikini, stood on a balcony, side on so her arse cheek is more visible saying how the Dubai authorities are keeping them safe, did throw me somewhat.

Maybe I'm too old for this shit or maybe the BBC war correspondents need a wardrobe change away from flak jackets to something more revealing?

jailing people for sharing videos is an attack on free speech and yet another reason why I wouldn’t want to live in or visit Dubai

for security reasons, it might make sense to deter those who first post videos, but jail just for sharing a clip. That is too much.

This, theres a pragmatic reason for it. Same thing happened in Israel during the 12 day war. People there weren’t banned from filming but reminded that posting video footage helps the enemy. Literally ever country at war will be similar. Arresting is a bit far but people do know that it’s unhelpful to the security of the country they are living in.

If you are unable to tolerate the rules of the country you live in then it’s best not to live there imo. people know the GCC countries take a zero tolerance approach, it’s one of the reasons day to day life is so safe. Similar in Singapore. The trade off is that you don’t get to always say what you want. The rules in Dubai on digital communication are extremely strict, you can get arrested for swearing at someone on twitter. People who move there really should respect the rules or leave. I think thats true of anyone moving to the UK as well, if the laws and culture don’t suit you, you are welcome not to migrate. Also normal rules never apply during war, it’s not a freedom of speech issue. The country has been bombarded by an extraordinary number of missiles and drones (something like 1800).

It’s not really a war in the sense that there is a ground invasion etc. the GCC countries aren’t even fighting back, they are busy trying to dodge missiles from the nutters next door.

So if I'm in a country under air attack you think it's OK to send some random or randoms a clip or description of something dropping say 100 metres short of, say, the Burj Khalifa, but it's wrong to broadcast to the whole world that same set of images???

In pretty much every country under the sun, including the UK, absolute "freedom of speech" would go out of the window the minute they became involved in a conflict.

The two year sentence sounds steep but frankly it sounds like some of the influencers need a reality check.

I'll echo what others said, it's a matter of national security - you can't post content like that during a war - it's not safe.

The government aren't making up silly rules - they are punishing a few people to keep the majority safe.

Jeremy Bowen in a bikini...yikes.

They aren't all influencers. Some are just tourists.

It's the images that matter, not the role of the person taking them.

Blimey, even in the civvie peacetime world in some mundane jobs and/or some places there are sometimes bans on taking videos or still images...for example UK plane spotters being locked for taking pictures at foreign airports used to be a regular story in the tabloids..

The idea that there's some sort of universal right to transmit images/info is naive to say the least.

Absolutely This

Ok. You said influencers need ' a realty check". I just pointed out that most of those arrested are not influencers.

The real influencers- like Isabel Oakshotte- are desperately posting videos praising the rulers to pay for their golden visas.

What a ridiculous comment to make - it doesn't matter what they are, it's the images that matter.

Sigh. I just corrected a pp who said influencers have been arrested. Because they are not.

If we''ve learned anything on this board it's that it's important to try and control the narrative in a warzone.

I recently had a gander at Lucy Worsley's doc about the 'observer' diaries from the days of the blitz. Bit of a challenge to the psyche.

Yes. Jo Malone is posting videos of herself wafting down Dubai marina ( I think) in a kaftan. 😀 Now that's an influencer. No one would know there was a war on.

It’s not really a war in the sense that there is a ground invasion etc. the GCC countries aren’t even fighting back, they are busy trying to dodge missiles from the nutters next door

In a nutshell. And 99.9% of the time life really is going in as normal apart from the restrictions in place because of the Holy Month of Ramadan.