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Freedom on the Net 2025

United Arab Emirates

Not Free
28
100
A Obstacles to Access 14 25
B Limits on Content 9 35
C Violations of User Rights 5 40
Last Year's Score & Status
30 100 Not Free
Scores are based on a scale of 0 (least free) to 100 (most free). See the methodology and report acknowledgements.
United Arab Emirates

header1 Key Developments, June 1, 2024 – May 31, 2025

Internet freedom in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) declined during the coverage period. Human rights defenders received lengthy prison sentences for their online content, while ordinary internet users continued to face government surveillance, arrests, and harassment for their peaceful online activity. Authorities and government supporters persisted in their use of sophisticated technology to spread disinformation that advanced progovernment narratives on social media.

  • In April 2025, Dubai’s tourism authority launched a program in which social media influencers would be paid to promote progovernment narratives that, according to rights groups, amounted to propaganda and whitewashed the country’s human rights record (B5).1
  • In July 2024, a group of 57 Bangladeshi citizens received lengthy prison sentences after a summary trial for protest-related offenses, including sharing information online about demonstrations being held in Abu Dhabi in solidarity with antigovernment protests in Bangladesh.2 Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan—the UAE president and ruler of Abu Dhabi—pardoned all 57 defendants in September, and authorities instead began deportation procedures, according to the UAE state news agency (B8 and C3).3
  • In March 2025, the UAE’s Supreme Court upheld 15-year prison sentences against five prominent human rights defenders, including blogger Ahmed Mansoor and academic Nasser bin Ghaith; they had been accused of using their online writing and social media content to support a terrorist organization.4 Mansoor and bin Ghaith, who had been detained on different charges since 2017 and 2015, respectively, had reportedly been tortured and denied proper medical care while in prison (C3 and C7).5
  • Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi, a poet and democracy defender, was extradited from Lebanon to the UAE in January 2025 and remained forcibly disappeared through the end of the coverage period. Authorities in the UAE reportedly demanded his extradition in response to an online video in which he criticized the Egyptian, Emirati, and Saudi governments (C3 and C7).6

header2 Political Overview

The UAE is a federation of seven emirates led in practice by Abu Dhabi, the largest by area and richest in natural resources. Limited elections are held for a federal advisory body, but political parties are banned, and all executive, legislative, and judicial authority ultimately rests with the seven hereditary rulers. The civil liberties of both citizens and noncitizens, who make up an overwhelming majority of the population, are subject to significant restrictions.

This report has been abridged for Freedom on the Net 2025 due to ongoing budget constraints. Please consider making a donation to support future editions of this vital resource.

For additional background information, see last year’s full report.

A Obstacles to Access

A1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do infrastructural limitations restrict access to the internet or the speed and quality of internet connections? 6.006 6.006
A2 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Is access to the internet prohibitively expensive or beyond the reach of certain segments of the population for geographical, social, or other reasons? 2.002 3.003
A3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the government exercise technical or legal control over internet infrastructure for the purposes of restricting connectivity? 4.004 6.006
A4 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are there legal, regulatory, or economic obstacles that restrict the diversity of service providers? 2.002 6.006
A5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do national regulatory bodies that oversee service providers and digital technology fail to operate in a free, fair, and independent manner? 0.000 4.004

B Limits on Content

B1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does the state block or filter, or compel service providers to block or filter, internet content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 1.001 6.006
B2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do state or nonstate actors employ legal, administrative, or other means to force publishers, content hosts, or digital platforms to delete content, particularly material that is protected by international human rights standards? 1.001 4.004
B3 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do restrictions on the internet and digital content lack transparency, proportionality to the stated aims, or an independent appeals process? 1.001 4.004
B4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Do online journalists, commentators, and ordinary users practice self-censorship? 0.000 4.004
B5 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are online sources of information controlled or manipulated by the government or other powerful actors to advance a particular political interest? 1.001 4.004
B6 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are there economic or regulatory constraints that negatively affect users’ ability to publish content online? 1.001 3.003
B7 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the online information landscape lack diversity and reliability? 1.001 4.004
B8 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do conditions impede users’ ability to mobilize, form communities, and campaign, particularly on political and social issues? 3.003 6.006

C Violations of User Rights

C1 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Do the constitution or other laws fail to protect rights such as freedom of expression, access to information, and press freedom, including on the internet, and are they enforced by a judiciary that lacks independence? 0.000 6.006
C2 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Are there laws that assign criminal penalties or civil liability for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 0.000 4.004
C3 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Are individuals penalized for online activities, particularly those that are protected under international human rights standards? 0.000 6.006

Score Change: The score declined from 2 to 0 because five human rights defenders, including blogger Ahmed Mansoor and academic Nasser bin Ghaith, were sentenced to 15 years in prison for their online writing and social media content as part of a mass trial that lacked due process.1

C4 1.00-4.00 pts0-4 pts
Does the government place restrictions on anonymous communication or encryption? 1.001 4.004
C5 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does state surveillance of internet activities infringe on users’ right to privacy? 0.000 6.006
C6 1.00-6.00 pts0-6 pts
Does monitoring and collection of user data by service providers and other technology companies infringe on users’ right to privacy? 0.000 6.006
C7 1.00-5.00 pts0-5 pts
Are individuals subject to extralegal intimidation or physical violence by state authorities or any other actor in relation to their online activities? 2.002 5.005
C8 1.00-3.00 pts0-3 pts
Are websites, governmental and private entities, service providers, or individual users subject to widespread hacking and other forms of cyberattack? 2.002 3.003

On United Arab Emirates

See all data, scores & information on this country or territory.

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Country Facts

  • Population

    9,441,000

  • Global Freedom Score

    18 100 not free

  • Internet Freedom Score

    28 100 not free

  • Freedom in the World Status

    Not Free

  • Networks Restricted

    No

  • Websites Blocked

    Yes

  • Pro-government Commentators

    Yes

  • Users Arrested

    Yes