Negative Reviews and Defamation in the UAE: Penalties and Options

When does a negative review become defamation in the UAE?

A negative review becomes defamation in the UAE when it stops describing a customer's experience and starts attributing conduct to someone that could expose them to punishment or contempt, or insults their honour or dignity. Posting a bad review is not a crime. Accusing a named business of fraud, or insulting its staff, on Google or Instagram can be, and the person who posts it can face a criminal fine of AED 250,000 to AED 500,000, a civil claim for compensation, or both.

This guide sets out where UAE law draws the line, what the reviewer risks, and what a business can do when it receives a review it considers defamatory.

Key takeaways

• A negative review is not illegal in the UAE. It becomes a potential offence when it attributes conduct to someone that could expose them to punishment or contempt, or insults their honour or dignity.
• Online defamation under Article 43 of Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 carries imprisonment, a fine of AED 250,000 to AED 500,000, or both.
• Truth is not a general defence. Article 428 of the Crimes and Penalties Law allows it only for certain allegations about public officials and their duties.
• A business has three months from learning of the review and its author to file a criminal complaint, and generally three years to claim compensation under the Civil Transactions Law.
• Deleting a review does not close a criminal case, but the complainant can withdraw the complaint before a final judgment, often in exchange for removal of the review.

Negative review or defamation: where UAE law draws the line

UAE law allows customers to criticise a product or service. Two federal laws decide when a review crosses into an offence: the Cybercrimes Law and the Crimes and Penalties Law. Their wording is broad, so the outcome turns on the exact words used, the context, and the purpose of the post.

Because Google reviews and social media posts are published online, Article 43 of the Cybercrimes Law is usually the provision that matters most for a review, and it carries the highest fines. The Crimes and Penalties Law treats certain facts as aggravating circumstances under Articles 425 and 426, including publication in a newspaper or other publication and an unlawful purpose behind the statement.

Is truth a defence to defamation in the UAE?

Truth is not a general defence to defamation in the UAE. Article 428 of the Crimes and Penalties Law allows proof of truth only for certain allegations against public officials, or persons entrusted with a public service, that relate to their duties. A customer who reviews a private restaurant, clinic, or contractor cannot rely on that exception, so a genuine bad experience does not automatically protect every statement made about it.

Why the purpose of the review matters

The reviewer's purpose can change how a review is assessed. A customer who thinks AED 600 for dinner for two in Dubai Marina is too much is entitled to say so in a review. If the meal was served as ordered and the customer then posts false allegations about the business, or insults its employees, to get back at it over the bill, those statements can create criminal exposure, whatever the original complaint about the price.

An Abu Dhabi court applied this distinction in a case reported in July 2026. A social media influencer filmed a restaurant and questioned the owner's integrity and business practices in a video on her account. The court found that the video contained direct insults against individuals rather than a review of the restaurant's food or service. She was fined AED 30,000, ordered to pay AED 51,000 in temporary compensation to the owner, and ordered to remove the video, and the phone she used was confiscated.

What not to write in a Google review in the UAE

A review stays on safer ground when it describes what happened and avoids conclusions about anyone's character, honesty, or integrity. Each row of the table below shows a complaint written both ways.

Four types of content carry most of the risk in a review:

• Allegations of criminal conduct, such as fraud, theft, or bribery, that the reviewer cannot prove.
• Personal insults or abusive language aimed at an owner or employee.
• Claims about someone's honesty or integrity that go beyond the product or service itself.
• Posts written to punish or publicly humiliate a business instead of informing other customers.

Where a complaint involves serious wrongdoing, such as a suspected scam, reporting it to the relevant consumer protection authority or the police is safer than making the accusation in a public review.

Three checks before you post a negative review

Anyone who is angry after a bad experience can reduce the legal risk by running three checks before publishing:

1. Is it factual? The review should describe something you experienced yourself, without exaggeration or allegations you cannot support.
2. Is it about the service or the person? Criticise the product, the delay, or the price, and leave out comments on anyone's character, honour, or reputation.
3. What is the purpose? A review written to warn other customers is different from one written to retaliate because you are angry.

Leaving a written review overnight and rereading it once the frustration has passed is a simple way to spot wording that could cause trouble. A business can still file a complaint after these checks, although the risk is lower.

Criminal penalties for posting a defamatory review

A person convicted under Article 43 of the Cybercrimes Law faces imprisonment, a fine of AED 250,000 to AED 500,000, or both, and the penalty is aggravated where the target is a public official or a person entrusted with a public service acting in the course of their work. A review written in frustration after a minor dispute can therefore become a criminal case with consequences far larger than the original disagreement.

A conviction can bring further orders beyond the fine:

• Forfeiture and deletion. Under Article 56 of the Cybercrimes Law, the court orders forfeiture of the devices or programs used to commit the offence and deletion of the offending information.
• Restrictions on internet use. Under Article 59, the court may place the convicted person under electronic monitoring or bar them from using information networks and may order a site closed or blocked in full or in part.
• Deportation for foreign residents. Under Article 126 of the Crimes and Penalties Law, a court may order the deportation of a foreign national convicted of a misdemeanour, alongside or instead of a custodial sentence, unless an exception applies.

The criminal fine goes to the state. Compensation is a separate claim under the Civil Transactions Law, covered below. A complaint also does not mean an offence has been established: liability depends on the statements, the circumstances, and whether each legal element is proven.

Civil liability: can a business claim compensation for a defamatory review?

A business can claim compensation for a defamatory review under the UAE Civil Transactions Law, issued by Federal Decree-Law No. 25 of 2025 and in force since 1 June 2026, if it proves that the review caused it harm. Article 246 makes anyone who causes harm to another liable to make good that harm, and Article 254(1) treats an infringement of another's honour, reputation, social standing, or financial status as moral harm.

The business can ask the criminal court for compensation within the criminal case, as the restaurant owner did in the Abu Dhabi case, where the court awarded AED 51,000 in temporary compensation alongside the criminal fine. It can also bring a separate civil claim for material loss it can evidence, such as lost bookings or revenue, and for moral harm to its reputation.

Under the new Civil Transactions Law, a claim for a harmful act must generally be brought within three years of the date the injured party became aware of the harm and of the person responsible.

Legal options for a business that receives a defamatory review

A business that believes a Google review or Instagram post is defamatory has six main options, and the right one depends on whether its priority is removing the review, recovering compensation, or both. Many businesses care most about getting the review taken down, because a review can stay public for years and one or two malicious ratings can pull down the average score of a smaller business with few reviews.

The usual sequence is:

1. Preserve the evidence. Take dated screenshots of the review, the reviewer's profile, and the URL before anything is edited or deleted.
2. Report the review to the platform. Google and social media platforms accept reports of reviews that breach their content policies, but the platform decides whether to remove it and may decline.
3. Contact the reviewer, if it is safe to do so. The most direct way to remove a review is for the person who posted it to take it down, and a measured message sometimes achieves that.
4. File a criminal complaint within three months. Under Article 11 of Federal Decree-Law No. 38 of 2022 on Criminal Procedure, insult and slander can only be prosecuted on a complaint from the victim, and the complaint is not admitted more than three months after the victim learns of the offence and who committed it.
5. Settle, or pursue the case. The complaint can be withdrawn under a settlement, for example in exchange for removal of the review, or the police can refer the case to the Public Prosecution and, from there, to the courts.
6. Claim compensation. Compensation can be sought within the criminal case or through a separate civil claim, as described above.

In practice, the police may give both sides an opportunity to resolve the dispute amicably before the case goes further. That often involves the reviewer removing the review and the business withdrawing its complaint.

When legal action is not the right tool

A defamation complaint is not a way to silence genuine criticism. A review that accurately describes slow service, a late delivery, or a price the customer considered too high is legitimate consumer feedback, and a complaint against it is unlikely to succeed. Practical limits also apply when the reviewer is anonymous or lives outside the UAE, because identifying and pursuing them takes longer and may depend on the platform's cooperation. A business in that position may be better served by a public, factual reply to the review.

Does deleting a review protect the person who posted it?

Deleting a review does not, by itself, protect the person who posted it, because the offence is complete once the statement is published. Screenshots, platform records, and other electronic evidence can still prove what the review said.

Deletion still matters. Article 17 of the Criminal Procedure Law allows the complainant to withdraw a complaint for a complaint-based offence, including insult and slander, at any time before a final judgment, and the withdrawal is effective only if every victim who filed the complaint agrees to it. Removing the review is often what the business wants most, which makes removal a common term of that withdrawal.

Until the complainant files a formal withdrawal, usually as part of a settlement, the criminal case continues even after the review is deleted.

Why UAE law protects business reputation

Ratings affect which businesses customers trust and how easily new customers find them in search, so a few false reviews can cost a Dubai restaurant or clinic revenue that took years to build.

UAE defamation law still leaves room for consumer feedback. A customer can share a bad experience and criticise poor service, and a business should not be able to use a complaint to suppress accurate criticism. The legal risk starts when a review makes accusations the reviewer cannot support, or insults someone.

Advice on defamation and online reviews from LYLAW

LYLAW's Dubai litigation team helps businesses deal with defamatory reviews and posts: preserving evidence, filing criminal complaints, negotiating settlements, and claiming compensation. The team also advises individuals who have received a complaint over something they published. To discuss a review or a complaint, contact the LYLAW team for a consultation.

This article provides general information only and does not constitute legal advice. The law and its application depend on individual circumstances and may change over time. For advice specific to your situation, please contact the LYLAW team.