"Bridge 2025" Launching tomorrow / The UAE is reshaping the future of global media

Abu Dhabi, 7 December / WAM / The Bridge Summit 2025 will launch tomorrow, Monday, in the capital, Abu Dhabi, which includes 7 main tracks dealing with digital content, artificial intelligence, humanitarian media, film production, the creative economy, the future of journalism, and the influence industry.

The summit cooperates with global partners, including Meta, with the aim of promoting innovation and developing new tools that serve the content industry.

The summit represents one of the initiatives of the Bridge Alliance, the first independent global organization of its kind that aims to develop the media, content and entertainment sectors, and enhance their diversity and impact on economies and societies.

The Bridge Alliance, which is based in the UAE, seeks to achieve a positive global impact as an independent, purposeful organization that works to build a global framework that is more interconnected, flexible, and committed to professional values ​​in the media, content, and entertainment sectors, and embodies the principles of cooperation and responsibility.

This comes at a time when the UAE continues the process of modernizing its media sector in a way that enhances its competitiveness and global attractiveness, as this year witnessed the launch of an integrated system to regulate and empower the sector, which included issuing a special decision to regulate advertisements through social media for individuals (advertiser), and developing a new policy for licensing digital news platforms that establishes clear professional and regulatory frameworks that enhance the credibility of digital media work.

The system stipulated that a number of media services be exempted from fees in support of Emirati producers, writers, and creators, and to encourage the development of content that reflects national identity and enhances the quality of the media message.

In parallel, the Council of Ministers adopted a decision on fees for media services, and a decision on violations and administrative penalties, in an important step towards building a unified and flexible media services system, characterized by transparency and ease of use.

The media sector in the country is witnessing increasing growth, as the Emirates Media Council issued 2,562 media licenses and permits during the first half of this year, including 2,152 media licences, 235 licenses for digital media via social media, in addition to 103 photography permits, and 72 licenses for newspapers and magazines, which reflects the accelerating pace of growth in the media business environment.

In the field of publishing, during the first half of this year, the Emirates Media Council dealt with more than 514,000 titles, in addition to issuing 35,000 trading permits for books in the country’s markets, while 32 violating titles related to topics that affect societal values ​​or conflict with applicable legislation were prevented from entering.

During the first half, the Emirates Media Council issued 611 approvals for showing cinematic films, with the total number of tickets sold exceeding 6 million tickets, achieving revenues exceeding 309 million dirhams. The Council also granted approval for the circulation of 131 electronic games in the country.

In terms of supporting national competencies and creating specialized content, the UAE launched training initiatives aimed at refining the skills of content makers, including the “Impact Makers” initiative, which focused on humanitarian media, and programs to prepare content makers specializing in economics, law, health, and food security. Media academies in the country also launched new programs that enhance the presence of Emirati media professionals in global arenas.

The UAE is one of the most prominent media centers in the world that has succeeded in combining a flexible legislative environment and an advanced technical structure, as well as its influence in creating constructive content and empowering media professionals, to become an advanced model of modern media governance based on innovation and quality production.

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