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UAE Advertising Content Standards: What Your Ads Can and Cannot Say

UAE Media Council advertising content standards for brands: claims you must prove, comparative ads, restricted categories, imagery rules and fines.

Every piece of advertising published in the UAE, from a Sheikh Zayed Road billboard to a creator's Instagram story, must comply with the 20 media content standards set out under Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on Media Regulation and enforced through Cabinet Decision No. 42 of 2025, in force since 29 May 2025. The standards require respect for religion, the state and its symbols, national identity and public morals; they prohibit false, misleading or exaggerated claims; and they sit alongside older advertising rules that ban the promotion of alcohol, tobacco, narcotics and gambling outright, restrict comparative claims, and require advertising to be clearly identifiable as advertising. Penalties for breaching the content standards range from AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000 per violation, doubling for repeat offences within a year, with content removal, account suspension and licence revocation available on top. The Consumer Protection Law adds its own prohibition on misleading advertising and fake discounts. The creative approval checklist at the end of this article is the one our team applies before any client sees a concept.

Most guidance on UAE advertising law is written for lawyers or for influencers. Very little is written for the people who actually make the ads: the copywriter deciding whether "the best coffee in Dubai" is a claim or a mood, the designer choosing a model's wardrobe for a summer campaign, the brand manager approving a National Day post that uses the flag. Those are the decisions where campaigns go wrong, and they are made by people who will never read the Official Gazette.

This guide translates the rules into working language for creative teams. It covers the 20 content standards in plain English; what "best", "number one" and "guaranteed" require you to be able to prove; how comparative advertising works here; the treatment of religion, the state and national symbols; the categories that are restricted or banned; the practical rules on imagery and modesty; how enforcement works and what the fines are; and the approval checklist we run before creative leaves the building. It is a companion to our guide to the UAE Advertiser Permit for brands, which covers who is allowed to publish advertising; this article covers what the advertising is allowed to say.

The 20 Standards in Plain English

The 20 media content standards are published by the National Media Authority (the body that now houses the UAE Media Council's functions) and apply to everyone who practises any media activity in the UAE, including advertisers, agencies and creators, and including businesses in free zones. Below is the official list, grouped and paraphrased for a creative team, with the practical question each one raises for an ad.

Two further rules from the media law sit alongside the standards and matter for every advertiser. Advertising must not violate the content standards or harm the public interest, directly or indirectly. And all advertisers must include in all advertising material something that explicitly and clearly indicates that it is advertising, which is the legal basis for the "ad", "paid partnership" and "gifted" labels that creator campaigns now carry.

Claims: "Best", "Number One" and What You Must Be Able to Prove

The UAE's advertising rules have never liked superlatives. The advertising standards that pre-date the 2023 media law already required that advertisements be clear and not contain incorrect information, that they not create confusion between products, and that misleading comparative claims and misleading claims of uniqueness be prohibited. Al Tamimi's summary of the current framework puts the position bluntly: advertisements must avoid misleading or false claims, exaggerations, assertions of exclusivity and disparagement of competitors.

Sitting alongside the media rules is Federal Law No. 15 of 2020 on Consumer Protection, as amended, which prohibits advertisers, suppliers and commercial agents from describing goods or services with incorrect data or making any misleading advertisement. The law defines a misleading advertisement as one based on deceptive information, or one that omits essential information the consumer would need before contracting, and it states specifically that announcing fake or unreal prizes or discounts is misleading advertising. That last clause is aimed squarely at the "was AED 999, now AED 499" habit where the AED 999 price never existed.

The working rule for copywriters is simple: any factual claim must be provable with evidence you hold at the time you publish, and any superlative is a factual claim.

The habit that protects you is a claims log: every factual statement in a campaign listed in one document with its source. Our creative team fills one in for every campaign, and a claim without a source line does not go to the client.

Comparative Advertising in the UAE

Comparative advertising is not banned, but it is narrow. The rules allow comparison provided it does not mislead, does not create confusion between products, does not use a competitor's trademark unlawfully and does not disparage. In practice, the safe form of comparison in the UAE is factual, specific and verifiable: "our plan includes X, Y and Z at AED 199; the two other plans at that price in the market do not include Z, as at [date]". The unsafe forms are the ones global creative teams reach for by instinct: naming a rival brand in a mocking headline, using a rival's colours or pack shape, or implying a rival is unsafe, dishonest or inferior without proof.

Two further points. First, disparagement is treated as its own problem under the advertising rules and under the Anti-Commercial Fraud and competition frameworks, so a comparison that is accurate but insulting can still be a violation. Second, comparative advertising is one of the places where the Consumer Protection Law's "omitting essential information" test bites: comparing your price with a rival's while leaving out that theirs includes delivery and yours does not is misleading by omission.

Religion, State and National Symbols

Standards 1 to 5 carry the heaviest penalties in Cabinet Decision No. 42 of 2025, and they are the ones international creative teams most often misjudge because the equivalents at home are either absent or gentle.

Religion

Ramadan and Eid campaigns are commercial fixtures, and they are permitted, but the line is between participating in a season and appropriating a faith. Quranic verses, the call to prayer, prayer imagery, the Kaaba and religious phrases used as slogans are outside the line. Crescents, lanterns, dates, generosity and family are inside it, provided the tone is respectful. Humour that touches religious practice, however gently, is not worth the risk: disrespect for religion carries the top penalty band, AED 100,000 to AED 1,000,000.

The State and its symbols

The UAE flag, the national emblem, the images of the rulers and the identity of government bodies are not design assets. Under Federal Law No. 2 of 1971 on the Union Flag, as amended by Federal Decree-Law No. 13 of 2019, publicly dropping, damaging or offending the flag is a crime against state security carrying imprisonment of 10 to 25 years and a fine of not less than AED 500,000, and the flag's proportions, colours and handling are prescribed by law. Commercial use of the flag by businesses is treated as improper. For brands that means: no flag on products, no flag as a background for a sale, no altered flag colours to match a brand palette, no flag draped over merchandise. National Day campaigns should express the values of the union (unity, tolerance, progress) rather than borrow the state's insignia; our National Day campaign guide covers how. Images of the rulers are used only in officially sanctioned contexts, never in advertising.

Foreign relations

Standard 4 makes content that could harm the UAE's relations with other states a violation. In practice this rules out campaigns that mock or criticise other countries, their leaders or their people, and it means geopolitical humour is off the table regardless of how it plays elsewhere.

Restricted Categories: Alcohol, Tobacco, Gambling, Medical and More

Some categories cannot be advertised at all; others need a sector approval on top of the media rules and the Advertiser Permit.

The practical consequence is that a creative brief for any regulated category must name the approval that will be needed and who is obtaining it, and the approval reference must be in the campaign file before publication. The media rules and the sector rules apply at the same time; satisfying one does not satisfy the other.

Imagery, Modesty and Cultural Sensitivity in Practice

The standards on public morals, prevailing values and national identity are written broadly, and Lexology's summary of the media framework notes that the prohibition on advertising "inconsistent with public conduct" is capable of covering a wide range of cultural sensitivities including inappropriate dress or behaviour. Creative teams need working rules rather than a legal test, and these are ours.

Wardrobe

Swimwear is shown at a pool or beach, not in a lifestyle shot in a living room. Shoulders, midriffs and short hemlines are avoided in general-audience creative; fitness and swimwear brands show their products in their natural context and keep the framing on the product. Lingerie is not shown on a model in public media.

Contact

Couples are shown with warmth and without physical intimacy; kissing, embracing in bed and suggestive positioning are out. This applies to stock imagery, which is where most violations originate because nobody looked closely.

Gesture and language

Hand gestures that are rude in the region, profanity in any language including Arabic dialect, and double meanings that a bilingual audience will catch are removed. Arabic copy is checked by a native speaker for meaning, not just grammar; transliterated brand names are checked for unintended meanings in Gulf dialects.

Heritage

The kandura, abaya, ghutra and traditional settings are worn and used accurately if at all, and not as fancy dress. Camels, falcons, dunes and dhows are fine as motifs; treating Emirati culture as a theme park is standard 5 territory and, more importantly, alienates the audience you are trying to reach.

Diversity

The UAE audience is Emirati, Arab expatriate, South Asian, Western and East Asian. Casting that reflects the market is both better marketing and safer under standards 6 and 7, provided no community is used as a punchline.

Fines and Enforcement So Far

Cabinet Decision No. 42 of 2025 gave the media law its first detailed penalty schedule. For content-standard violations, Table 2 of the Decision classifies the 20 standards into severity bands with fines from AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000.

Repeat violations within a year can see fines doubled, to a ceiling reported at AED 2,000,000. Beyond fines, the regulator can issue warnings, order content removed, suspend accounts, revoke permits and licences, and impose temporary closure of up to six months or permanent closure. A Committee for Violations of Media Content Standards, made up of three to seven media experts, assesses violations under the Decision. Separately, the Consumer Protection Law carries its own administrative penalties for misleading advertising, applied by the Ministry of Economy and the emirate-level economic departments, and the telemarketing regulations (Cabinet Resolution No. 56 of 2024) fine misleading or deceptive marketing by phone, SMS and social messaging.

On enforcement, the public record is consistent that the framework is being applied, particularly to influencer content and to unlicensed advertising, and that the Advertiser Permit regime enforced from 1 February 2026 has given the regulator a clear register of who is publishing. We have not repeated specific tallies of fines that circulate on some websites because we could not verify them against regulator statements or the major national newspapers. The scale of the penalties and the existence of a dedicated committee are sufficient reason to build the checks into your process.

A Creative Approval Checklist

This is the checklist our creative and media teams complete before any concept, script, layout or cut goes to a client for approval. It is designed to be answered in ten minutes by the people who made the work.

Items 8 and 15 are the ones most often failed, and item 6 is the one most often failed by accident. If your current agency does not run something like this, ask them what they run instead.

Every piece of creative Blackstone produces goes through this checklist before you see it, and our media team re-checks it against the sector rules before anything is booked. If you would like creative that is built to pass rather than patched to comply, see our creative and design services, our media and execution services or start a project.

Frequently Asked Questions

They are the 20 media content standards issued under Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on Media Regulation and published by the National Media Authority. They require respect for religion, the State and its symbols, national identity, social cohesion, public morals, privacy and children's rights, and they prohibit false, misleading and inciting content. Standard 18 states specifically that advertising content must respect the culture, identity and values of the UAE. They apply to everyone publishing media or advertising in the UAE, including free zones.

Only if you can prove it by a stated measure at the time of publication. The advertising rules prohibit misleading claims of superiority and uniqueness, and the Consumer Protection Law prohibits misleading advertising, including omitting information a consumer would need. Unqualified superlatives are high risk; qualified, sourced and dated claims are the safe form.

It is permitted within limits. Comparisons must be accurate and verifiable, must not confuse consumers, must not use a competitor's trademark or trade dress unlawfully and must not disparage. Factual, dated comparisons are acceptable; mocking or implied-inferiority comparisons are not.

Commercial use of the flag is treated as improper, and offending the flag is a serious crime under Federal Law No. 2 of 1971 as amended, carrying 10 to 25 years' imprisonment and a fine of at least AED 500,000. Brands should build National Day creative around the values of the union rather than the flag, emblem or rulers' images, and follow the annual rules issued by the authorities on decorations.

Under Cabinet Decision No. 42 of 2025, content-standard violations carry fines from AED 5,000 to AED 1,000,000 depending on severity, with religion-related violations at the top of the range. Repeat violations within a year can be doubled. The regulator can also order removal, suspend accounts, revoke permits and licences, and impose temporary or permanent closure. Misleading advertising is separately penalised under the Consumer Protection Law.

Alcohol, tobacco and vaping products, narcotics and gambling cannot be advertised, and the prohibition extends to surrogate or indirect promotion. Real estate, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial products and certain food claims can be advertised only with the relevant sector approval in place.

Creative built to pass, not patched to comply.

Every concept, script and cut we produce is run through the 18-point checklist above before you see it.