Social media users have criticised the UAE-funded Sky News Arabia channel, accusing it of “blatant promotion” and “legitimisation” of paramilitary forces accused of destabilising Yemen and Sudan.

The UAE, which owns 50 percent of Sky News Arabia through International Media Investments (IMI), backs Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), both of which face allegations of human rights abuses.

The RSF has been implicated in mass killings and widespread abuses since the war in Sudan began in 2023, some of which were documented by its own fighters and later corroborated by satellite imagery.

The STC, which seized large parts of southern Yemen ahead of a planned referendum on independence from the north, has also faced accusations of human rights violations.

Sky News Arabia came under renewed scrutiny after critics accused it of acting as a “propagandist” for the two groups.