Abu Dhabi court awards influencer AED 20,000 over unauthorised TikTok and Snapchat video

Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi Family, Civil and Administrative Court ordered a young man to pay AED 20,000 in compensation to a social media influencer after he was convicted of filming him and publishing the video on TikTok and Snapchat without his consent, violating his privacy and reputation. The court rejected the influencer’s claim for AED 450,000 in compensation for material and moral damages, citing a lack of evidence of financial losses, and limited the award to moral damages. The influencer had filed a lawsuit against the young man seeking AED 450,000 in comprehensive compensation for material, moral, psychological, social and family damages, as well as loss of profit. He also sought legal interest at 5% annually from the date the judgment became final until full payment, along with fees, expenses and lawyers’ fees. He also requested that the judgment be immediately enforceable without bail. The lawsuit was based on allegations that the defendant filmed a video in which the influencer appeared and then published it on his TikTok and Snapchat accounts without his consent. The video was accompanied by comments that the plaintiff said damaged his reputation and standing. The influencer said the incident had negatively affected his family life, advertising business and the compensation he received. The plaintiff relied on a final criminal ruling that convicted the defendant, fined him AED 50,000 and ordered the confiscation of the mobile phone. He submitted documents including the court rulings, images of the clips involved in the case and comments posted about him on social media. The defendant submitted a memorandum rejecting the lawsuit and requesting its referral. In its reasoning, the court said that under the Criminal Procedures Law, a civil court is bound by a judgment issued in a criminal case. The court said the documents established that the defendant had been convicted of publishing video material featuring the plaintiff after filming him without his consent. The civil court was therefore bound by the criminal judgment regarding the occurrence of the act and its attribution to the defendant. The court rejected the claim for financial compensation, saying the plaintiff had not provided evidence of financial losses resulting from the filming. He had also failed to establish the amount of income he had lost, a specific earning opportunity he had missed, or a decline in invitations to participate in activities and the resulting impact on his work. The court added that expenses incurred in pursuing the litigation were subject to the rules governing lawsuit expenses. Regarding the claim for moral compensation, the court explained that moral damage includes harm to a person’s honour or reputation, as well as harm affecting their emotions and feelings. It found that filming the plaintiff and publishing the video without his consent, making it available for circulation, had affected his privacy and reputation and caused him embarrassment and psychological distress for which he was entitled to compensation. The court ordered the defendant to pay the plaintiff AED 20,000 in compensation for moral damages, as well as fees and expenses within the limits of the amount awarded.