Saudi Arabia has licensed social media advertisers since October 2022. The licence, Mawthooq, meaning trusted, is issued by the General Authority for Media Regulation, GAMR, formerly the General Commission for Audiovisual Media. GAMR's own websites did not load for us from the UAE, so the details below come from Saudi press reporting GAMR's statements and from law-firm guides. Check the current terms with GAMR before relying on them.
What it is
- It was added to the Executive Regulations of the Audiovisual Media Law in 2022, and Saudi practitioners were told to obtain it by 1 October 2022.
- The fee was set at SAR 15,000 for three years, and a law-firm guide updated in February 2026 still describes it that way.
- The holder must be 18 or over. The licence is personal, cannot be transferred, and covers platforms including X, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook.
- Ads may only run from accounts registered to the licence, and must be clearly labelled as advertising, in writing or out loud.
- About 12,000 licences had been issued by July 2025, according to GAMR's chief executive.
Who needs it
- Saudi nationals advertising on social media, including Saudis living abroad.
- Anyone paid in products or services as well as cash. Gifts count as payment.
- Not people promoting themselves: a photographer marketing their own work, or someone posting daily life or travel content without payment, does not need it. Licensed property brokers promoting their own listings and productive families selling their own goods are also exempt, according to Okaz.
- GCC nationals can obtain a commercial registration and an advertising licence instead.
Foreign creators
This is the part that catches Gulf agencies. Non-GCC foreigners cannot hold the individual licence. They must work through a licensed local advertising agency or under an investment licence. In December 2024 GAMR set conditions for resident foreigners and foreign investors: a licence for an advertising or marketing office or agency, a commercial registration in which the foreign investor owns not less than 50%, and a statement that advertising with influencers, whether inside the Kingdom or visiting it, requires a Mawthooq licence. GAMR has also said advertisers operating from outside the Kingdom need the licence, and that it would penalise local companies that advertise with them.
In September 2025 GAMR referred five businesses for using unlicensed advertisers from abroad, and the Federation of Saudi Chambers told its members not to deal with unlicensed advertisers.
What agencies must check
- The creator's Mawthooq licence, before the contract is signed. Agencies may not deal with an unlicensed individual.
- That the ad runs from the account registered to the licence.
- A clear advertising disclosure, written or spoken. The official text does not prescribe a format, so use one simple, consistent label.
- For non-Saudi creators, the licensed entity they work through.
- For UAE creators, both regimes. The UAE Advertiser Permit and Mawthooq are separate, and neither covers the other.
The penalties, and what gets misquoted
We found no official penalty schedule for Mawthooq. The figure most often quoted, up to SAR 5 million and five years in prison, comes from the Anti-Commercial Concealment Law, cited in a 2022 circular about non-Saudis advertising without a commercial registration. Other figures in circulation run from SAR 30,000 to SAR 1 million, from different sources and different laws. What is documented: in October 2024 six residents were fined SAR 300,000 in total for unlicensed ads, according to Okaz.
The influencer disclosure checker on this site reviews a caption for a clear paid partnership label before it goes live.
