A UAE court sentenced an expatriate woman to one month in prison followed by deportation for posting a video of her five-year-old relative on Snapchat without the child’s parents’ consent. The video, recorded at a family gathering, received more than 11,000 views and led to a criminal case involving invasion of privacy and endangering the child’s psychological wellbeing.

According to Gulf News on Monday, November 9, 2026, the case began when a five-year-old girl mispronounced the name of a food while joking at a family gathering, prompting those around her to laugh.

One of the child’s relatives filmed the moment and later posted the video on her public Snapchat account. It was subsequently reposted on other social media platforms and attracted widespread attention.

After learning that the video had been posted, the child’s father objected to his daughter’s image being shared publicly without his consent. Citing concerns about privacy violations and the potential impact on the child’s psychological wellbeing, he reported the matter to the relevant authorities.

Two charges filed under UAE law

Following an investigation, prosecutors brought two charges against the woman: publishing images or a video of a child through an information network without legal authorisation, and exposing the child to ridicule, abuse or conduct that could affect her psychological wellbeing.

The charges were brought under two UAE federal laws.

The first was Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Combating Rumours and Cybercrimes, with reference to Article 1, paragraph 3 of Article 44, and Articles 56 and 59.

The second was Federal Law No. 3 of 2016 on Child Rights, known as Wadeema’s Law, with reference to paragraph 6 of Article 1 and Articles 36, 69, 70 and 71.

Prosecutors classified the alleged offences as misdemeanours involving the unauthorised online publication of a child’s video and exposing her to potential emotional and psychological harm.

Defendant sentenced to one month in prison and deportation from the UAE

During the proceedings, the defendant admitted filming the child and posting the video on Snapchat but denied deliberately abusing or ridiculing her.

In her defence, she said her Snapchat account was public and that the video’s widespread circulation after it was uploaded was beyond her control.

However, citing police reports, other evidence in the case and the defendant’s admission during the proceedings, the court found her responsible for filming and posting the video.

The court said publishing a child’s image without the required permission could result in criminal liability even when there was no intention to cause harm.

It also rejected the defendant’s argument that the public nature of her Snapchat account exempted her from legal responsibility.

The woman was ultimately sentenced to one month in prison followed by deportation from the UAE.

Warning over legal liability for reposting videos

Commenting on the case, Rashid bin Suwaidan, a lawyer at Bin Suwaidan Advocates and Legal Consultants, warned that filming an apparently harmless joke at a family gathering could lead to serious criminal consequences if the footage was posted on social media.

He explained that legal liability was not necessarily limited to the person who filmed the video and could extend to others involved in its publication and circulation, from the original poster to those who reposted it.

Bin Suwaidan stressed that consent to being filmed or photographed did not, by itself, amount to permission for the image to be published publicly.

By way of example, he said permission to photograph a person’s car did not necessarily grant the right to publish the image publicly, particularly if the vehicle’s number plate was visible.

The lawyer said the same principle applied to images and videos of people: agreeing to be photographed or filmed did not mean consenting to public distribution.

Warning over sharing children’s images without parental consent

The case has again highlighted the importance of the legal protections provided by Wadeema’s Law, which safeguards children’s privacy, human dignity, and psychological and emotional wellbeing.

According to legal commentary on the case, social media account holders may be held responsible for content posted through their accounts, even if it was published at someone else’s request.

Posting images or videos of children without the required consent from a parent or legal guardian can have serious legal and criminal consequences.

People who send or repost such content may also face legal liability, depending on the extent and nature of their involvement.

What a child’s relatives may regard as a harmless joke or a momentary embarrassment at a family gathering can become a source of public humiliation once posted online and circulated beyond its original audience.

The case underscores the responsibility of parents, relatives and social media users to protect children’s privacy both online and offline.

Bin Suwaidan concluded with a warning: “A child smiling or laughing in front of a camera does not mean that they have consented to the public distribution of their photo or video.”