Qatari authorities have detained over 300 individuals for sharing images and what they termed “misleading information” amid days of Iranian attacks, the interior ministry announced on Monday.
The arrests mirror a wider crackdown across the Gulf as Iran has targeted airports, military bases, energy facilities, and residential areas with daily drone and missile strikes.
According to the ministry, those apprehended “filmed and circulated video clips and published misleading information and rumours that could stir public opinion.”
The detainees, described as being of “various nationalities,” were taken into custody by the Department for Combating Economic and Cyber Crimes under the ministry’s General Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Similar actions have been reported elsewhere in the region. In Bahrain, four people were arrested for “filming and broadcasting clips about the effects of Iranian attacks and spreading false news,” the interior ministry said on Friday.
In Kuwait, authorities confirmed on Saturday that three individuals were arrested over a video in which they mocked the situation.
Meanwhile, residents in the United Arab Emirates have been warned via text messages of potential legal consequences for sharing sensitive images or “reposting unreliable information.”
The UAE attorney general’s office also cautioned against “filming, publishing, or circulating images and videos documenting incident sites or damage caused by falling projectiles or shrapnel,” according to the Emirates News Agency. Saudi Arabia has issued similar advisories.
Despite these warnings, images of missiles, drones, and war-related destruction continue to spread widely on social media and messaging platforms.
The conflict began on February 28, following attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel, after which Iran struck US military bases in Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE.
