The Printing and Publications Law was primarily aimed to address printing and publishing activities and is broad enough to cover all forms of expressions including television broadcasting. This law included 16 articles that detail prohibited matters that may not be published. The prohibited matters are either of religious topics, politics related, national security related or deal with individual rights and public morals. 

At the time of introducing the Printing and Publications Law, persons subject to these media regulations and prohibitions were onshore entities with the growth of free zones in the UAE and creation of media free zones which resulted in remarkable growth of a media industry inside these special free zones. While there is no specific broadcasting law applicable across the UAE, there has been a guidance released by the Dubai Technology and Media Free Zone that introduce awareness and privacy principles and provide a code of standards.