UAE sets rules for protests during COP28
In preparing to host COP28, the UAE, where individuals may be prosecuted for unauthorised protests, speech deemed to spark or encourage social unrest, or offending foreign states, said it would designate areas of the site where it would permit demonstrations. Campaigners remained concerned that protesters on human rights and environmental issues would be arrested, detained, or surveilled, especially digitally. Guidelines published on the UN's COP28 website and drafted by the UAE's team reminded those attending the talks that UAE law prohibits the spread of disinformation, fake news, and defamatory statements, asked journalists to refrain from publishing anything that could offend the UAE's ruling regime, and asked LGBTQ attendees to "respect the UAE's cultural and societal values".
Publication: France24
Writer: France24