Kuwait has issued a new Media Regulation Law that, for the first time, requires influencers and paid social media advertisers to hold a government license. Decree-Law No. 102 of 2026 was published in Kuwait Al-Youm, Issue 1811, on Sunday, 4 October.
The law is set to take effect six months after publication, which puts it at around 4 April 2027. It replaced the Press and Publications Law (No. 3 of 2006), the Audiovisual Media Law (No. 61 of 2007) and the Electronic Media Law (No. 8 of 2016).
Newspapers, printing, broadcasting, cinemas, advertising, news websites and social media now fall under a single licensing system. The General Administration for Media Regulation at the Ministry of Information will run it.
Kuwait’s Acting Minister of Information and Culture described the decree as a significant step in modernizing the country’s media legislation, in a statement shared by the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).
#Kuwait’s Acting Minister of Information & Culture affirms that the issuance of Decree-Law No. (102) of 2026, enacting the Media Regulation Law, marks a significant step in developing & modernizing Kuwait’s media legislative framework. https://t.co/9hukQECLFr #KUNA https://t.co/UobFyWxSS3
— Kuwait News Agency – English Feed (@kuna_en) October 4, 2026
What Changed?
The changes brought about by this law are as follows:
For Influencers
Article 34 covers any citizen, resident or visitor who advertises or promotes for commercial purposes to the public in Kuwait. Payment is not the test.
Personal accounts are outside the law unless they are used for regular professional or commercial media or advertising activity (Article 30). The law sets no follower threshold.
- Applicants must be at least 18.
- The license lasts two years and can be renewed. The renewal request must be filed at least two months before expiry.
- The Ministry has 60 days to decide. If it does not, the application counts as refused.
- Application fees and forms have not been published.
Ads must be clearly labelled (Articles 35 and 52), and content must meet the standards in Article 17. These include respect for religion and public morals, no insult to the Amir, and no false or misleading news. Contests, gifts and prizes also count as licensed advertising activity (Article 55).
For Brands and Websites
Companies that promote only their own products are generally exempt. That changes if an account or website is dedicated, wholly or partly, to regular advertising beyond the company’s own offerings.
Brands share responsibility for what is posted for their benefit. Anyone on whose behalf an ad runs counts as an advertiser (Article 1), and companies face fines at double the personal rate for offences committed in their name or for their benefit (Article 69). licenses cannot be leased or sold without approval (Article 11).
News-style websites and apps need a license and a Kuwaiti responsible manager aged at least 21 (Articles 31 and 33).
For Traditional Media and Journalists
Newspapers need a license and a Kuwaiti editor-in-chief aged at least 21 (Articles 18 and 19). Each broadcast channel needs its own license and a general manager. Foreign media offices need a two-year renewable license.
Article 77 shields licensed journalists from criminal liability if they act in good faith and verify their information. It does not cover defamation or deliberate falsehoods.
Penalties
Violations under this law entails specific penalties, as listed below:
- Advertising without a license: KD 1,000 to KD 50,000 (Article 55).
- Unlabelled or misleading ads: the same range (Article 56).
- Media activity without a license: KD 1,000 to KD 10,000 plus closure (Article 58).
- Administrative measures: warnings, fines and license withdrawal for up to six months (Articles 37 and 61).
- Court powers: blocking accounts, seizing devices and barring a person from publishing for up to one year (Articles 64 and 65).
Note: Criminal penalties under Chapter 13 are limited to fines, not imprisonment. The Public Prosecution has exclusive authority to investigate and prosecute (Article 73). Administrative penalties can be challenged within 15 days (Article 62).
What Happens Next
The Minister must issue the Executive Regulations within six months of publication. Existing operators then have six months to regularize their position or lose their license.
Some points remain unclear. One summary reports that most new licenses last five years, with fees capped at KD 10,000 and Ministry silence counting as approval (Articles 6 and 7). That conflicts with the influencer and foreign media rules, where silence means refusal, so you’ll need to check the official text.
The treatment of gifted products and occasional posts is also unsettled, as is enforcement against accounts based abroad. The regulations may address both.