Heavy fine to be imposed on unlicensed social media influencers from July

ABU DHABI: The Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development is set to impose huge fines on social media influencers from July 1. Influencers who advertise for companies or organizations without a license will be fined up to Dh10,000 (Rs 227,624). Moreover, these companies are also likely to close down.

The Department of Economic Development said licenses can be easily obtained. One can do this online through the platform ‘Tamm’. After taking the option of Department of Economic Development in it, you have to specify what type of ads you are going to release through the social media platform. The fee is Dhs 1,250 (Rs 28,453) for individuals and Dhs 5,000 (Rs 113,812) for companies. License can be obtained if has the identity card of Emirates.

The decision also applies to government companies advertising through social media. The Department of Economic Development also clarified that influencers need a license even if they have permission from the national media council. Presently there are 543 licensed people. It is expected that this number will increase after the new decision comes into effect.

Guidelines were issued earlier for people doing business in UAE with license on the conditions to be followed while placing advertisements with the help of social media influencers. The Department of Economic Development has informed that those who violate this will be detained or fined from 3000 dirhams (Rs 68287) to 10,000 dirhams (Rs 2,27,624 rupees).