A woman in the UAE has been sentenced to one month in jail and ordered deported after she filmed a five-year-old girl at a family gathering and posted the footage to a public Snapchat account without the child’s parents’ knowledge.
According to a report by Gulf News, the video, which showed the girl mispronouncing the name of a food while those around her laughed, spread across social media and drew more than 11,000 views before the child’s father reported it to authorities.
Prosecutors charged the woman under two federal laws: Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Combating Rumours and Cybercrimes, and Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights, known as Wadeema’s Law .
Wadeema's Law
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Wadeema’s Law, officially Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights in the UAE, establishes legal protections for children, particularly concerning their privacy and digital footprint. The law addresses the unauthorised publication of minors’ images and videos, holding individuals accountable for potential emotional and psychological harm caused by such actions, even if unintentional. It underscores the necessity of parental or legal guardian consent for sharing any child’s likeness online, clarifying that consent to be filmed does not equate to consent for public dissemination.
The charges, classified as misdemeanours, covered the unauthorised online publication of a minor’s footage and the potential harm caused to her emotional and psychological well-being.
The woman admitted to filming and uploading the video but denied any intent to bully the child. She argued that her Snapchat account was public and that the footage had spread beyond her control once posted.
The court rejected that defence, ruling that sharing a child’s image without authorisation could amount to a criminal offence regardless of intent, and that operating a public account offered no legal protection.
Lawyer Rashid Bin Suwaidan, of Bin Suwaidan Advocates and Legal Consultants, said the case carried a warning for anyone who shares content featuring children, the report said.
Legal liability, he said, does not rest solely with the person who filmed the incident but extends to anyone who circulates it, including those who repost or forward the material. He also drew a distinction between consenting to be recorded and consenting to publication: “A child smiling or laughing in front of a camera does not mean they have consented to having their photograph or video shared publicly.”
Bin Suwaidan added that the same logic applies to any image. Permission to photograph someone does not automatically grant the right to publish the image, particularly where it reveals identifying information.
Under Wadeema’s Law, sharing photographs or videos of a child without the consent of a parent or legal guardian can carry serious legal consequences. Social media account holders may also face liability for content shared through their accounts even at another person’s request, depending on the circumstances.
