Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2025 establishes the National Media Authority (NMA) as a federal public entity affiliated to the UAE Cabinet, with its own legal personality and financial and administrative independence. The Authority consolidates federal media governance: it replaces the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office and the Emirates News Agency (WAM), taking over their functions, rights, obligations and legislative mandates. For anyone licensed, publishing or communicating in the UAE media sector, the practical effect is that a single regulator now sets media policy, issues licences and enforces content standards.
Who should read this
Media outlets, publishers and broadcasters; digital and social media operators; businesses licensed in media free zones; and government communications and PR teams. Anyone who previously dealt with the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office or WAM should map those relationships onto the new National Media Authority.
Directly affected
Key facts
- Instrument: Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2025 on establishing and regulating the National Media Authority.
- Signed: 30 September 2025; announced December 2025.
- Effect: in force from January 2026; the enacted Arabic text published in the Official Gazette governs.
- Status of the Authority: a federal public entity affiliated to the UAE Cabinet, with legal personality and financial and administrative independence.
- Replaces: the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office (NMO) and the Emirates News Agency (WAM) — the NMA assumes their functions, rights, obligations and legislative mandates.
- Mandate: propose national media strategy and messaging; coordinate media policy across federal and local entities; regulate and licence media outlets, digital media and free-zone media activity; and oversee media crisis management.
- Governance: a head and deputy head, a board of trustees, and a secretary-general responsible for implementing the Authority's policies and regulations.
- Framework: operates alongside the substantive media-regulation regime in Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023.
Executive summary
Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2025 replaces a fragmented federal media apparatus with a single regulator. Until now, media governance was split between the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office and, for official news, the Emirates News Agency (WAM). The Decree-Law folds all three into the National Media Authority, a Cabinet-affiliated body with independent legal, financial and administrative standing. The substantive rules that govern media conduct — principally Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on media regulation — continue to apply; what has changed is who administers them, who issues licences and who owns the enforcement relationship.
Key provisions
A consolidated federal regulator. The NMA is established as a federal public entity affiliated to the Cabinet. It succeeds the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office and WAM, and takes over their functions, rights and obligations. Existing legislative references to those bodies are read as references to the Authority.
Policy and coordination. The Authority proposes the UAE's strategic media direction and messaging and coordinates media policy across federal and local government entities, with the stated aim of aligning the national media discourse at home and abroad.
Licensing and standards. The NMA proposes and administers the regulations and standards used to organise and licence media outlets and their activities. Its scope is deliberately broad — it reaches print, audio-visual and digital media and publishing, and extends to entities operating within media free zones.
Official news and WAM. The Decree-Law tasks the Authority with developing WAM as the official channel for publishing, distributing and translating approved official news, and empowers it to build a network of correspondents and media offices and to archive and produce news content.
Governance. The instrument defines the powers of the head of the Authority, provides for a deputy head and a board of trustees, and creates a secretary-general responsible for implementing the Authority's policies, strategies, legislation and regulations. The enacted Arabic text sets out the precise allocation of these powers and prevails over any summary.
Practical implications
Redirect your regulator relationships. Licences, approvals, correspondence and filings that used to go to the UAE Media Council or the National Media Office now sit with the National Media Authority. Existing licences and permits do not disappear, but they are administered by a new body; confirm the current status and renewal channel for each one.
Free-zone media businesses are squarely in scope. The Decree-Law expressly extends to media activity in free zones. Operators that treated media licensing as a free-zone-authority matter should expect a federal overlay and align their content and licensing practices with the Authority's standards.
Digital and social media count. The Authority's remit reaches digital media, publishing and online activity, consistent with the substantive obligations already in Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023. Publishers, platforms and prominent content operators should review whether their activities require registration or licensing under the consolidated regime.
Government communications teams. Federal and local entities should factor the Authority's coordination role into their communications approvals and crisis-communications planning.
Watch the transition. Because the Authority absorbs three predecessor bodies, expect implementing regulations, delegated standards and administrative notices to follow. Commencement and transitional detail are governed by the instrument itself and any Cabinet decisions issued under it; the enacted Arabic text controls.
Action points
- Inventory every UAE media licence, permit and approval you hold, and identify which predecessor body issued it.
- Confirm the renewal and correspondence channel for each licence now that the National Media Authority is the competent body.
- If you operate in a media free zone, reconcile your free-zone licence with the federal standards the Authority administers.
- Review digital, social and publishing activity against the content and licensing obligations under Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 as administered by the NMA.
- Update internal compliance registers, contracts and communications policies to name the correct regulator.
- Monitor for implementing regulations and transitional decisions, and diarise licence renewal dates against them.
Directly affected: media outlets and publishers, digital and social media operators, media free-zone businesses, and government communications teams.
Enforcement and transition
The National Media Authority inherits the enforcement and licensing powers of the bodies it replaces, applied against the substantive media-regulation regime already in force. During the transition, the safest position is to keep existing licences current, engage the Authority through its published channels, and treat implementing regulations as they issue. Where the Decree-Law and any English summary appear to diverge, the enacted Arabic text prevails — verify licence conditions and deadlines against the official Gazette version before acting.
Sources and authorities
Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2025 — Establishing and Regulating the National Media Authority
UAE Legislation Portal (official): uaelegislation.gov.ae/en/legislations/3943
Replaces the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office and the Emirates News Agency (WAM); operates alongside Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on media regulation.
Original-source date: 2025 · Signed 30 September 2025 · In force January 2026
Instrument details
Jurisdiction: United Arab Emirates — federal
Signed: 30 September 2025 · Announced: December 2025 · In force: from January 2026
Effect: establishes the National Media Authority as a Cabinet-affiliated federal public entity with financial and administrative independence
Repeals/supersedes: transfers the functions, rights and obligations of the UAE Media Council, the National Media Office and the Emirates News Agency (WAM) to the Authority
Related regime: Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 on media regulation
Governing text: the enacted Arabic version published in the Official Gazette prevails over any English summary.
Based on Federal Decree-Law No. 11 of 2025 and cross-checked against leading practitioner analyses. General information only — it does not constitute legal advice, and the enacted Arabic text prevails. For advice on a specific matter, please contact us. Last updated: 2 July 2026.