National Digital Intelligence Platform

United Arab Emirates

SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE

Facebook & Meta Platforms

Meta's Facebook ecosystem in UAE — engagement, censorship, and influence operations

UAE Users (NapoleonCat)

16.0Mmillion

66.7% from last period

Market Share

76.27%

2.4% from last period

Bot Activity

34%

9.7% from last period

Censorship

PARTIAL

Expat Population

88%

Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior Detected

UAE/Egypt influence operation linked to Newave (UAE) and New Waves (Egypt)

CIB ACTIVE

Facebook Intelligence Overview

Meta platform activity in UAE

UAE Social Media Market Share

Platform distribution (March 2026)

Gender Distribution (UAE)

NapoleonCat December 2025: 16,025,300 users

Sentiment Distribution

Overall sentiment on Facebook

Age Demographics

UAE Facebook user age breakdown by gender

18-24

F: 15.5%M: 13.1%

25-34

F: 43.7%M: 8.1%

35-44

F: 26.8%M: 3.1%

45-54

F: 10%M: 0.9%

55-64

F: 2.7%M: 0.5%

65+

F: 1.3%M: 0%

Facebook User Statistics Comparison

Data from multiple sources

Coordinated Inauthentic Behavior (CIB) Details

Operation 1: UAE & Egypt (August 2019)

Accounts Removed

259

Pages Removed

102

Page Followers

13.7 million+

Ad Spend

$167,000

Attribution: New Waves (Egypt) and Newave (UAE)

Operation 2: Saudi Arabia (August 2019)