People pushing a car through floodwaters during a rainstorm in Dubai on March 9. REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah Authorities in the United Arab Emirates have warned people that posting negative images or rumours about the recent flooding in the Gulf country could be punishable by law. The UAE underwent heavy storms in early March that left many areas of the country underwater — images and videos of the damage were rife on social media.

According to the local news site Emirates 24/7, reports have said people were "spreading rumours" and behaving "irresponsibly" on social-media networks. Officials said this caused undue panic among the public and ignored the "heroic efforts" by the police and civil-defence teams to help with the damage.

Col. Dr. Salah Obeid Al Ghoul, director of the Law Respect Culture Bureau, general secretariat of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, told local news sites that many posts on social-media sites were misleading and incorrect and that the public should look to specific departments for information. He added that spreading rumours was a criminal offence.

Yousef Al Sharif, a local lawyer, said spreading false information or rumours that damage the country's reputation online was punishable with jail time and a fine of up to 1 million Emirati dirhams (£189,500, $272,000).

The UAE has numerous laws against what people can post on social media, which are often criticised as a way of clamping down on dissent. In January, two Egyptian men were arrested for a selfie they took in front of the Address Hotel as it erupted into flames on New Year's Eve. Reports suggested that the two would face deportation.