The UAE has threatened citizens and visitors who spread rumours or play pranks on April's Fools with a prison sentence of at least one year.
There will be "serious repercussions and legal liabilities" for anyone caught spreading "lies and misinformation", the Public Prosecution Office said in a statement cited by the official WAM news agency on Thursday.
Rumours that harm public interest or negatively affect the "moral code of society" will be harshly prosecuted, the statement said, adding that it will include anyone spreading "malicious or vicious lies" about the Emirati society, the UAE government or the state.
These actions, the statement said, will be punishable by law with an imprisonment penalty for a period of no less than one year.
The April Fool's Day is marked every year on the first of April worldwide, where traditionally people prank others.