News

Saudi Arabia To Require Individuals To Procure Social Media Ad Licenses

To avoid financial penalties, individuals publishing ads on social media platforms are required to obtain a license before October 1, 2022.

Published

4 years ago

August 5, 2022

David Morelo

saudi arabia to require individuals to procure social media licenses

Soon, it will be more difficult for individuals in Saudi Arabia to advertise on social media because the Saudi Arabian government has decided to make it mandatory for those publishing ads on social media platforms to obtain social media ad licenses.

“This move would contribute to regulate the advertising sector and digital content in the Kingdom,” said acting Minister of Media Dr. Majed Al-Qasabi.

One license will cost SR15,000 ($4,000), and it will be valid for three years. Applications will be accepted through the I’lam platform, and they will be available to all Saudi citizens living in the Kingdom or abroad as well as to the citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates).

One Saudi influencer, Abdullah Al-Sabaa, has already applied for his license, and he said that the entire process took only a few minutes. Sabaa believes that the move will help regulate the advertising market on social media — something he sees as a positive development.

With each license come certain conditions and obligations that must be fulfilled. For example, license holders will be required to provide any data requested by the General Commission for Audiovisual Media, and they must stop advertising any content prohibited by a directive issued by the commission.

Also Read: Dubai’s Finance Strategy For 2026 Hopes To Achieve Financial Sustainability

To avoid financial penalties, individuals publishing ads on social media platforms are required to obtain a license before October 1, 2022.

The United Arab Emirates already requires individuals to obtain a similar license. The UAE license also costs $4,000, but it’s valid only for one year instead of three.

The global social media advertising market was valued at a little over $180 billion in 2021, and it’s estimated that it will reach $330 billion by 2025. What are your thoughts on social media ad licenses?

News

A Three-Clinic Network Bets Dubai Is Ready For Longevity Medicine

Longevium has enlisted nearly 100 clinicians and created an AI platform in a bid to sell biological-age tracking as a medicine, not a wellness service.

Published

2 days ago

July 13, 2026

Dana Saadeh

a three-clinic network bets dubai is ready for longevity medicine

Dubai has been busily creating the scaffolding for a longevity industry, including a dedicated regulatory authority and a health market deep enough to sustain it. Now the clinics are arriving.

Longevium, a longevity clinic network, has opened three locations across the city: a flagship at Triple Seven Mall on Jumeirah 3, and branches in Jumeirah Lake Towers and Jumeirah Village Circle. Together they house a multidisciplinary team of nearly 100 physicians and specialists offering what the company bills as “a measurable medical system for longevity”.

longevity dubai clinic launch

The pitch is that longevity medicine should look less like a wellness menu and more like continuous clinical care. Each patient’s biological age assessment, laboratory results, body composition, cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic markers, and lifestyle data feed into a single profile, with a proprietary AI platform helping physicians track progress and adjust protocols against the patient’s own biomarkers.

“Healthy aging must be approached clinically through diagnostics, biomarkers, physician supervision, longitudinal tracking, and protocols tailored to the individual,” said Dr. Ksenia Butova, Longevium’s founder and CEO. “Our goal is to help patients understand their health trajectory before disease develops, and then actively change that trajectory”.

The treatment list spans peptide-based protocols, exosome therapies, stem cell approaches, GLP-1 metabolic optimization, hormone balance programs, cardiovascular prevention, and regenerative aesthetics — a model built for the entrepreneurs, executives, and international patients the clinic says want measurable results rather than generic wellness. A signature offering, Longevity Day, compresses biomarker testing, ultrasound and vascular imaging, specialist consultations, IV therapy, and a personalized optimization roadmap into a single three-hour visit.

Also Read: Dubai Certifies The World’s First Purpose-Built Air Taxi Vertiport

“Here, longevity, biotechnology, AI, prevention, and regenerative medicine are converging into a single ecosystem,” said Butova. “This is why Longevium was built in Dubai, and why we believe the UAE can become a global reference point for longevity medicine”.

The emirate established the Dubai Longevity Authority in 2026 to oversee its longevity, wellness, and advanced health sectors, and the Dubai Health Authority reported insured beneficiaries exceeding 4.9 million in 2025, up around 6.5%, with insurance claims reaching approximately 49.6 million, up around 13.5%.