Consumers should know the difference between constructive criticism and defamatory comments in order to avoid fines and penalties.
Imagine waking up to a legal notice or a call from the local police station for leaving a Google review on a business page. When you’ve had a bad experience with a service or product, you might want to share your dissatisfaction through a review, which seems harmless enough — until it isn’t.
In the UAE, there are some cases in which you could find yourself in a legal battle and facing hefty fines over candid critiques or negative reviews, as businesses grow increasingly vigilant about safeguarding their reputations.
Last year, for instance, a woman in Dubai was found guilty of defamation for an Instagram post that “damaged a hospital’s reputation” after she posted a video clip, calling it the “worst hospital” and that doctors did not know their job. A case was filed under the cybercrime law, and she was fined and asked to delete the video.
Similarly, in May 2020, the Public Prosecution convicted a woman for defamatory remarks posted about a medical center on Google and Instagram. In her review, she criticized the center for providing “the worst service you can imagine” and alleged that positive reviews on its social media platforms were fake.
The court fined her Dh 5,000, confiscated her phone, and closed all her social media accounts. On appeal, the court upheld the charge, deeming the phrases used in the incident a crime of defamation.
