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National Digital Intelligence Platform

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V-SECTOR

Omission & Silence Detection

Systematic media censorship, suppression patterns, and information control analysis

RED

RSF Press Freedom Rank

164/180

Internet Freedom Score

28/100

Social Media Arrests

375+

Source Success Rate

57%

Report Metadata

Research execution statistics and data sources

14

Sources Cited

12

Queries Executed

9/14

Pages Fetched

8

Successful

RSF
Freedom House
HRW
CPJ
Amnesty International
WJWC

RSF World Press Freedom Index

UAE ranking among 180 countries worldwide

RSF Ranking Trend

2023-2025 ranking progression

RSF Score Trend

Score progression (0-100, higher is better)

RSF 2025 Component Scores

Political Environment indicator breakdown

Political Environment26.91

Note: Other component scores (Legal Framework, Economic Context, Sociocultural Context, Security) were not available

Key Finding

UAE ranks among bottom 20 countries worldwide for press freedom (164th out of 180 in 2024 and 2025)

Freedom on the Net 2025

Internet freedom assessment with category breakdown

Freedom on the Net Score

28/100 - Not Free

Score28/100
-2 from previous year

Category Breakdown

Assessment by restriction category

obstacles To Access

High restriction

14/25

limits On Content

Severe restriction

9/35

violations Of User Rights

Critical restriction

5/40

Additional Data Points

Dubai tourism authority launched paid influencer program to spread pro-government narratives and whitewash human rights record

57 Bangladeshi citizens convicted for sharing protest-related content; later pardoned

Supreme Court upheld 15-year sentences against Ahmed Mansoor and Nasser bin Ghaith for online content

Poet Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi extradited from Lebanon in January 2025; remained forcibly disappeared

Score for penalties for online activities declined from 2 to 0 due to mass trial lacking due process

Population: 9,441,000

Freedom in the World 2025

Political rights and civil liberties assessment

5/40

Political Rights

Not Free
13/60

Civil Liberties

Not Free
18/100

Global Freedom Score

Not Free

2024 Key Developments

Mass trial resulted in 43 life sentences and 10 others receiving 10-15 years

Human rights defenders like Ahmed Mansoor sentenced to 15 years

57 Bangladeshi citizens sentenced then pardoned for protest participation

Foreign student arrested and deported for pro-Palestinian slogan

UAE removed from FATF grey list for money laundering/terrorist financing improvements