UAE ends censorship of cinematic releases, introduces 21+ age category for films

In order to attract foreigners, the United Arab Emirates administration has decided to no longer censor films released in cinemas. The government announced its decision on Sunday, December 19. As per the new announcement, the government will no longer cut sensitive scenes that offend the Islamic sentiments and have introduced a new 'above 21 years of age' category for viewers. 

Censorship for films in cinemas in the United Arab Emirates

The scenes that showed nudity and other content that was deemed inappropriate, were removed from the movies in UAE earlier, which sometimes affected the plot of the movies, according to The Associated Press. However, the government has now introduced a new rule regarding movies in the cinema.

Announcing the decision via Twitter, the official account of Media Regulatory Office - Ministry of Culture and Youth said, "According to this classification, the movies will be screened in cinemas according to their international version, and the classification is given based on the standards of media content in the country."

Furthermore, the Media Regulatory Office in the tweet informed that it has introduced the 21+ age classification for films in cinema. 

Working week in UAE

The latest decision of the government comes as the authorities have been trying to promote the country to attract international workers. The government has reformed its Islamic legal code and from next year, weekends in the country will not be operational, according to AP. The United Arab Emirates government on Tuesday, December 7, announced that the working week for government employees in the country will be from Monday to Friday, with Friday being half day. 

The change have been made in order to make the country work according to western schedules. In a move to boost its tourism, the United Arab Emirates government has announced the new working week, which will be in effect from January of 2022. Informing about the decision of working week, the government in a statement said, "The new working week will also bring the UAE’s financial sector into closer alignment with global real-time trading and communications-based transactions," according to AP.

Inputs from AP

Image: AP/Unsplash