A human rights barrister has hit out at influencers’ “completely tone deaf content” about the current situation in Dubai.
With the Middle East once again plunged into conflict, thousands of Irish people in Dubai have found themselves suddenly trapped inside a warzone, with Iranian missiles fired in their direction.
On The Claire Byrne Show, Caoilfhionn Gallagher said that her “heart goes out to all of those people who were caught up in this”, but added that some of them do not seem to be taking the situation seriously.
“There's kind of a meme which is being used by a lot of them, which says, ‘You live in Dubai, aren't you scared?’” she explained.
“And then there's this reassuring music and it cuts to these images of Emirati leaders saying, ‘No, because I know who's protecting us.’
“Now, that's being put out in large part because influencers are reliant on the Emirates authorities in order to continue their role.
“They've got to get a license in order to operate and there's been a very clear warning by the UAE authorities that the country's cybercrime law will be used against people if they spread what's called ‘false news, rumors or misleading information’.”
The marina in Dubai. Picture by: Jan Wlodarczyk / Alamy Stock PhotoThe King’s Counsel added that she had seen a lot of “completely tone deaf content”, given the gravity of the situation.
CNN reports that over 1,000 Iranians have died as a result of US and Israeli strikes, while a handful of people have been killed in the UAE by Tehran’s retaliation.
“A woman called Shona Sibary, who's a British woman who writes for the Daily Mail, divides her time between England and Dubai, wrote a piece a couple of days ago,” she continued.
“And this is a genuine headline, ‘I'm trapped and under attack in Dubai while back home in Chichester. My daughters are furious. The labradoodles are sick. And worst of all, I left my Mounjaro pen in the fridge.’
“I mean, you couldn't make it up, it's like satire, really, what she's written.
“It's all about the lack of bottled water in the Waitrose across the road.”
An authoritarian regime
Despite the large number of westerners who live in Dubai, the Government of the United Arab Emirates has little regard to the democratic norms that most expats grew up with.
Gay sex is a crime and freedom of speech and assembly are severely restricted.
However, it is not a topic that comes up very often in the posts or reels of the western influencers who live there.
“What we see with a number of countries in the region is they hide away their very dubious, problematic human rights record and they present themselves as being a modern, progressive place,” Ms Gallagher explained.
“And having influencers posting this kind of gushing positive content is part and parcel of that.
“It's also why you saw in Saudi Arabia last year hosting a comedy festival.”
Passengers boarding airstairs at Dubai Airport, UAE. Picture by: Alamy.com. The KC continued that she has had “many clients who have fallen foul of the regime”, recalling how some were sent to prison for liking social media posts that were critical of the regime.
While some are ignorant of how authoritarian life in the UAE is, others are happy to wear what she describes as “golden blindfolds”.
“We've seen over the last number of years you get sudden awareness for a moment when there's a shocking case, like, say, for example, Roscommon woman Tori Towey in 2024,” Ms Gallagher said.
“Suddenly there was a lot of attention on it; people were thinking of the UAE in a different way.
“But then it's gone in a puff of smoke and people are back to thinking of UAE as this glamorous, safe location without ever really questioning, ‘Why is it that it's this safe given where it is in the region and without ever really thinking about its human rights record?’”
Main image: A woman taking a photo in Dubai. Picture by: Alamy.com.
