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An airline employee in Dubai was lured to a gathering where he was arrested by police over the sharing of images showing damage attributable to war within the Middle East.
Cybercrime officers swooped in after secretly hacking right into a WhatsApp group and finding a clip showing smoke billowing from a constructing following an Iranian drone strike.
It had only been shared in a non-public group of airline colleagues, none of whom had published it more widely.
The person stays in custody facing charges including publishing information deemed harmful to state interests, in keeping with the campaign group Detained in Dubai.
Chief executive Radha Stirling said: ‘Dubai Police have now explicitly confirmed they’re conducting electronic surveillance operations able to detecting private WhatsApp messages.
‘Individuals are being tracked, identified, and arrested not for public statements, but for personal exchanges between colleagues.
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‘Firms like WhatsApp must answer urgent questions on user privacy.
‘If private communications may be detected and used as the premise for arrest by overreaching or hypersensitive states, users worldwide need clarity on how their data is being accessed.’
The police report states that the clip was detected ‘through electronic monitoring operations’.
A specialised team from the Electronic and Cybercrime Department was formed to perform technical investigation and evidence gathering, resulting in the person’s identification.
He was then situated, lured to a gathering point, and arrested by police.
The person stays in detention after the case was escalated to State Security Prosecution.
Why are people being arrested for sharing footage of Iranian attacks?
Dr Mira Al Hussein, Research Fellow on the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam within the Contemporary World, University of Edinburgh, told Metro the UAE’s cyber-crime laws are ‘deliberately vague’ and ‘broad enough to be stretched retrospectively to cover regardless of the moment requires’.
‘On this instance, the UAE has managed to cultivate a high level of public confidence in its capability to intercept Iranian missiles and drones and minimise impact on civilian infrastructure, business and each day life,’ she said.
‘When images of strikes and damages flow into in ways in which contradict the official account — attributing sounds and damage to successful interceptions and falling debris slightly than to strikes that got through — that confidence is undermined.
‘It could generate public fear and disorder.
‘The UAE government wants to manage not only the current story however the historical record.
‘Documented evidence of strikes and damages may include incidents that the federal government doesn’t want to acknowledge publicly.
‘It also raises questions on why specific sites were targeted.’
Ms Stirling said the group continues to receive reports involving tourists, residents, and airline crew detained for sending, receiving, or retaining content, even where there was no public dissemination.
Using surveillance technology to watch private messaging platforms raises serious questions on privacy, proportionality, and the scope of the UAE’s cybercrime laws.
As many as 70 UK nationals have been locked up within the UAE for filming these drone and missile strikes.
Metro has heard the stories of two foreign nationals who were allegedly tracked down and arrested for innocently recording explosions in numerous Gulf countries.
Arrests for alleged breaches of cybercrime laws have taken place throughout the Middle East.
For the reason that start of the Iran war, local and national authorities within the UAE say they’ve made 189 arrests in reference to alleged violations of the country’s cybercrime laws.
Multiple numbers out of Qatar have confirmed that greater than 313 foreign nationals were detained there for similar videos and pictures.
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