A Dubai-based Arab woman was recently arrested after blackmailing a celebrity with an illicit video he'd sent her, Khaleej Times reported.
The defendant had gotten in touch with the famous man after she sent him a message on Instagram. They then "exchanged phone numbers and began talking on WhatsApp until they became romantically involved."
During one of their conversations the man sent the woman a video capturing himself committing "illicit acts."
The defendant used the clip to blackmail the celebrity
A while after the man sent the video, he was shocked to get a call from someone threatening it'll be uploaded to YouTube if he didn't pay a huge sum of money.
When he didn't respond, the video was actually uploaded to the video-sharing website.
The man immediately reported the matter to police, who pulled the clip off YouTube, tracked down and arrested the woman who uploaded it online.
Sharing videos and photos of someone without their permission is illegal in the UAE
A rigid cybercrime law is set in place - governing various aspects of the internet including social media posts made to Facebook and WhatsApp messages.
According to the UAE's 2012 cybercrime law, individuals can be prosecuted for sharing or posting material that slanders a person or breaches their privacy.
Material meant to harm a person's reputation or information passed about an individual without their permission is also considered illegal.
According to Gulf News, Article 21 of the law states that anyone who "uses a computer network and/or electronic information system (social media) for the invasion of privacy of another person in other than the cases allowed by the law," will be sentenced to "imprisonment of a period of at least six months and a fine not less than 150,000 dirhams ($40,836) and not in excess of 500,000 dirhams ($136,122) or either of these two penalties."