A French influencer was reportedly arrested in Dubai days after she filmed herself saying she was scared while Iranian missiles lit up the sky around her.
Maeva Ghennam, 28, was filming an ad for her three million Instagram followers when she nervously admitted: ‘My knees are shaking,’ as she showed explosions ringing out nearby.
Ms Ghennam was then reportedly arrested alongside three other French nationals for filming and disseminating images of the war, news outlet France Info reported.
The influencer has since said in a video: ‘I didn’t say anything wrong, I was scared. I was very, very scared.’
Reports of her arrest come as dozens of people have been detained in the United Arab Emirates for sharing footage of Iran’s attacks in a desperate attempt from the country’s rulers to preserve the city’s supposed care-free image.
A European tourist was arrested in Dubai for posting a picture of a hotel on fire.
The father-of-three, who shared a photograph of the world-famous Fairmont The Palm hotel in the aftermath of an Iranian drone attack, was detained on March 9.
Authorities said he would be taken to Al Qusais police for one or two hours and returned but he has not been seen since.
In the latest crackdown, the tourist is being left at the ‘mercy’ of state security who are holding him without access to a lawyer, the embassy or his phone, according to Radha Stirling from human rights group Detained in Dubai.
He is being forced to sleep on the floor and fed only rice, the group added.
The tourist told family he deeply regretted posting the footage and he has apologised to the United Arab Emirates – even though it was put online before warnings were issued.
And last week, a 60-year-old British man was one of 21 people charged under cyber-crime laws in connection with videos and social media posts relating to the recent missile strikes.
The Londoner is accused of ‘broadcasting, publishing, republishing or circulating rumours or provocative propaganda that could disturb public security’.
The man said he deleted the video from his phone when asked and had no intention of doing anything wrong.
Ms Ghennam has since denied being arrested in an Instagram post, writing: ‘I don’t understand why there are all these articles about me in relation to Dubai…I was never taken into custody for this; this story is false and I didn’t get a fine,’ she insisted.
Over the weekend, UAE police released mugshots of 25 people arrested for sharing ‘war footage’ in the country.
The arrests are part of a brutal crackdown on free speech in the emirate, with Dubai officials telling people the ‘big booms’ in the sky are ‘the sound of us being safe’ as the UAE air defence system takes action.
Dubai’s government heavily polices social media and responded to the outbreak of war by threatening jail against anyone sharing information that ‘results in inciting panic among people’.
Videos of drone and missile strikes were regularly shared on social media in the early days of the conflict, but these have largely disappeared and been replaced by a deluge of posts praising Dubai’s government.
In a post on Instagram, the British embassy said the UAE authorities have issued ‘several warnings’ regarding the photographing, publishing or sharing of images and videos ‘documenting incident sites or damage resulting from the fall of projectiles or shrapnel’.
The post continued: ‘Under UAE law, ‘sharing’ can include posting on social media platforms as well as sending or forwarding content via messaging applications.
‘UAE law also restricts the photographing of certain sites, including government buildings and diplomatic missions.’
Dubai has been targeted by thousands Iranian missiles and drones since the outbreak of the war.
On Monday, an Iranian drone hit a fuel tank near Dubai Airport, sparking a massive fire.
Flights were diverted and roads to the airport were closed as a pall of black smoke could be seen from several miles away.
After the fire on Monday, authorities quickly took to social media to reassure the public that the attack caused ‘minimal damage’ and no injuries, referring to the fire as a ‘drone-related incident’.
The airport has been targeted several times before in the barrage of missiles and drones from Iran, but this incident is the first time the Dubai government admitted that a drone caused the damage, rather than debris from an interception.
The UAE said it had been thoroughly monitoring social media platforms in recent days in a bid to prevent the dissemination of ‘fabricated information and artificial content intended to incite public disorder and undermine general stability’.
It emerged on Saturday that up to 100 people had been arrested by police in the UAE for filming drone or missile strikes.
Abu Dhabi Police alone have arrested 45 people of multiple nationalities for filming various locations amid current ongoing events and posting clips on social media.
