In early 2026, Middle Eastern countries significantly increased both the regulations covering and the enforcement of laws specifically targeting the sharing of sensitive military footage and unauthorized personal content.
Edited on 3-13-2026 to add one more country. See Iran below.
United Arab Emirates (UAE)
The UAE enforces Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 (the Cybercrime Law), which has been altered and strictly applied to real-time footage of security incidents in 20261.
Sensitive Military/Crisis Footage: Sharing images or videos of interception operations, missile debris, or “incident sites” (including casualties) is a criminal offense with a minimum penalty of 1 year in prison and a fine of the AED equivalent of $25k to $125k
Privacy Violations: Posting videos of others or their property, which means posting anything existing at ground level or higher, in public, is illegal. This arbitrary and vague law carries a minimum 6 months in prison and fines between $35k - $125k.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
Israel
Every citizen and visitor is subject to Military Censorship laws, which were significantly tightened by new amendments in early 20262.
Sensitive Footage: It is strictly prohibited to film or post interception operations, missile impact sites, or strategic military locations (which is basically all of Israel.) New 2026 amendments mandated prison sentences of up to 30 months, replacing the fines the laws were sentenced with prior to 2026. Cases deemed to “harm state security” can carry up to 5 years in prison.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia utilizes the Law on Combating Information Crimes and surveillance camera regulations to monitor online content3.
Security Footage: Sharing or publishing security camera footage without explicit approval from the Ministry of Interior or State Security is illegal. Fines start at the Saudi equivalent of $6k USD for unauthorized release. The penalties for anything they consider “tampered with“ are in line with the usual Saudi sentencing guidelines. I am not sure which body part they cut off, but I bet it will be something that will be missed.
Sensitive Content/Rumors: Sharing unverified information that “impacts public order” which basically means anything the royal family doesn’t like, can lead to extreme sentences of up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $1 million.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
Qatar
Recent 2025 and 2026 updates to the Cybercrime Law (Law No. 11 of 2025) focus on public order and personal privacy4.
Incident Footage: The Ministry of Interior warned in March 2026 that filming or publishing “field developments” during security incidents is strictly forbidden with sentences up to 5 years in prison and fines up to $25k.
Unauthorized Public Filming: Posting videos of people in public without permission (It isn’t exactly clear whose permission is required) is now a specific criminal offense under Article 8, with sentences up 1 year in prison and/or a fine of $25k.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
Kuwait
Kuwait uses Cybercrime Law No. 63/2015 and 2026 directives to regulate wartime and security-related content5.
Military/Security Filming: Filming missile interceptions or authorities on duty is prohibited to prevent “inciting anxiety” or revealing security procedures. Violators can be sentenced to between 6 months and 3 years in prison and fines up to $35k.
Hacking or leaking government secrets can lead to 10 years in prison.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
Bahrain
The Ministry of Interior has taken a “zero-tolerance” approach to live-streaming or recording sensitive events6.
Incident Sites: Reposting videos from “the scene of events” (strikes, security operations, anything they arbitrarily decree) is a violation of public order. Individuals have been arrested for live-broadcasting strikes in March 2026, with charges potentially escalating to treason if sensitive military movements are revealed.
Expat/Visitor Consequences: Any conviction leads to mandatory deportation and a permanent re-entry ban.
This section was added on 3-13-2026 in response to a question asked in the comments.
Iran
Although the changes predate 2026, the fact that Iran recently increased the scope and punishments for this type of behavior in October 2025 does warrant a look at what they did and how this impacts the overall situation.
In October of 20257, Iran greatly increased both the range of forbidden activities and punitive measures laid out in their June 2025 Espionage Law.
Social Media Posts: “The fabrication or dissemination of false reports, or the creation or publication of any content that typically causes public fear and panic or is contrary to national security, shall—if not constituting the crime of corruption on earth—be punishable, at the court’s discretion, by third-degree imprisonment.8”
Satellite Network Equipment: It also made it a capital offense to possess, sell, or transfer any equipment capable of satellite based internet connection such as Starlink. The penalty for such activities is now death.
This means that both sides of the conflict have instituted legislation which, when combined, has created a total and effective black out of the region for any information other than that being broadcast by state approved sources. Without independent reporting, we have no way of knowing what is going on in the region.
What would it take to fool the locals into thinking there was a region wide conflict going on? Fireworks and a few false flags would do it.
As for the rest of the world, we just have to trust that the Powers that Should Not Be have our best interests in mind and wish to be honest about this one topic, even though they have consistently lied about everything else, for years.
Please keep this in mind when engaging with others regarding your opinion on what is going on in the Middle East. You simply can not know at this point and that lack of knowledge is intentional and complete.
TL;DR
The best single article covering the changes in laws and restrictions in regards to covering current events in the region is here- The Gulf States in Wartime: The “Battle” to Control Information
So, the question I have is- Does anyone really believe that all of the countries in the Middle East who benefit from the non hostility of the US towards their respective nations, in the 6 weeks prior to the current war, implemented individual strangleholds on any form of independent press for the benefit of their own people or for the benefit of the rest of the world? Or possibly, they all did it because this lack of information somehow democratizes the average citizen of the world?
And in the US, Carr the FCC Chair just threatened to block broadcast license renewals for channels that do not show what Trump claims is reality. He does not have that power and there is a ton of precedent about political bs like this in the courts, but he did threaten it anyways. https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/2032855414233047172?s=20
The FIRST casualty of every war is the truth.