Interesting Things Related the Regulations for Online and Digital Ads in UAE – It is interesting to know regulations regarding internet access and online advertisements and other contents. Each country and nation surely has different regulations and these are related to the values upheld by the nation. In United Arab Emirates, there are also certain regulations that brands and even advertisers need to pay attention to. This is necessary so brands will be able to advertise their products well without harming the regulations. In this case, UAE has its own media regulations and even there is regulations for the social media influencers. In current situation, the influencers are the partners of brand for advertising and marketing so it is also necessary to know the details of regulations.
For the media regulation, the main goal is to provide proper protection the end-users of internet. Most ads are now delivered in online accesses so brands should be aware of the regulation. As for the protection, specifically it is mentioned that the contents of the media or ads should not contain materials that are against the ethical values and religious values in UAE. The UAE is quite unique because religious values get serious attention and it is mostly related to the values in Islam as the main religion. There are prohibitions and restrictions so the contents of media and ads should pay attention to these. In addition, frauds and cybercrimes also get concerns.
More specifically, UAE also has internet media regulation. There is Media Regulatory Office and Internet Access Management Regulatory Policy. The same concerns are still about the religious and ethical values in UAE. In this case, it is quite unique because the government also maintains relationship with the licensed internet services providers. There are two licensed provider, and they are Etisalat and Du. Both of them are parties that assist the government in running the policies. All parties involved in the internet media regulations work together to monitor digital and online media and the contents. Advertising is also included in the monitoring processes and there is no exception. Thus, ads of medical products and other services are also included in the regulation.
There are some points included into restrictions that should not appear in the ads. One of them is pornography and nudity. This becomes serious concerns in the religious and ethical values in UAE. All contents should never expose pornography and nudity. It is not just the matter of pictures and videos, but words and concepts of the ads should get attention. This is mostly related to the values in Islam so brands should be aware of it. Next, it is about alcohol and gambling. These two are also prohibited to appear in any adds and contents. There are still other concerns that people should be aware of before making the contents for ads.
In this case, government also establishes the general framework for the media strategies. One of them is to maintain intensive communication among government and federal authorities in filtering the ads. It is to make sure that there is same understanding regarding the regulations and prohibitions in the digital contents. Government also establishes partnership and cooperation with the media authorities to make sure that all parties follows the regulations stated by the government of UAE. However, it does not mean that government limit the developments. Government still maintains and provides good environments so they can keep up with the pace in the developments of media. Thus, there are still rooms for exploration and development as long as it follows the ethical and religious values in UAE.
Next, it is about the social media influencers. In many countries, the influencers have become interesting phenomenon. Those who have huge numbers of followers in social media platforms start to get contacted by brands to help the promotion. In UAE, influencers also exist and they are recognized by the government. However, it is not easy to become ones. Those who become influencers are not only the social media users with many followers. This is only one of the requirement and it is more about the requirements of brand. As for the regulation, they need to be licensed by the government. In other words, government should give approval for those who want to become influencers.
There will be regulations that should be followed. This is considered necessary so the influencers will still make contents or posts that do not violate the regulation and ethical values in UAE. This becomes interesting because it may seem complicated to become influencers. It may be different from other countries where government do not directly involved in the social media activities, especially for the influencers. Their account may got verified, but it is policy of the social media developers. It is not related to the government. Meanwhile in UAE, they still need to get licensed and there will be processes to get the official license for the work. Of course, brands and the social media users should follow it because it is formal regulation in there.
