UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office Issues Update to UAE Travel Advice

Just one day after we launched the Coalition for Justice in the UAE  and publicly called for the UK and other governments to update their travel advisories to the UAE, the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office has updated its travel advice to include warnings on social media use in the UAE.

The updated travel advice now includes the following language:

"Posting material (including videos and photographs) online that are critical of companies or individuals, or related to incidents in the UAE, or appearing to abuse/ridicule the country or its authorities may be considered a crime punishable under UAE law. There have been cases of individuals being detained, prosecuted and/or convicted for posting this type of material." 

Although we feel the new warning still does not sufficiently warn travelers on just how broad the restrictions on social media usage are or that there appears to be no restriction or consistency on what UAE authorities might consider “critical” or “abusive," we are pleased that the UK Foreign Office has taken what we consider to be a positive interim step. We encourage the UK Foreign Office to further enhance its travel advice by including warnings on the lack of internationally-recognized fair trial standards  in UAE courts.