Mawthooq costs SAR 15,000 for three years, and it licenses your own account. Nothing in the Mawthooq conditions and exceptions we read forbids filming videos that a brand posts on its own account. The freelance document is free at present; below is the speciality to pick and what to attach.
Mawthooq: a licence for your own account
Mawthooq is the General Authority for Media Regulation's licence for individuals who provide advertising content on social media. Its service page, read on 5 November 2026, lists, among other things:
- Fee: SAR 15,000, which the authority's FAQ says cannot be refunded.
- Term: three years.
- Age: 18 or over.
- Your accounts: a detailed description of the accounts where you will advertise, with proof that you own them.
- Your record: content on your accounts in the six months before you apply must not break the media content controls.
- Residents and foreign investors: an extra condition, an advertising office or agency licence with at least 50% ownership in the company.
In its 2023 update of the conditions, the authority said licensees must show ads from the account registered with it and linked to the licence, and must not let anyone else advertise through that account.
What the texts say about videos the brand posts
Much UGC is filmed by a creator and posted only by the brand, on its account or in its paid ads. This is what the texts we read say about each case:
Where the video runs and what the texts said on 5 November 2026
| Where the video runs | What the texts say |
|---|---|
| On your own account, as an ad | Mawthooq licenses individuals who provide advertising content on social media and asks for the accounts they will advertise on. |
| A brand's post about itself, on its own account | The authority's FAQ says a company's post shared through its own social media accounts needs no licence. |
| Only on the brand's account or in its paid ads, not on yours | Not mentioned by the Mawthooq page, the authority's 2023 news on its conditions, the FAQ or the published exceptions, and none of them forbids it. |
| On the brand's account and also on yours | Mawthooq's description covers advertising content on your own accounts. |
Okaz reported three exceptions in August 2023, and Asdaa Aldeereh listed the same three in July 2024: advertising a government body's event or activity, an individual advertising their own product or service on their personal account, and under-18s sponsoring educational, sports or cultural activities. None of them mentions filming for brands. In its 2023 update of the conditions, the authority said they apply to all ads provided by individuals, and did not say whether that covers a video only the brand posts.
When the brand posts your video, agree the usage scope and the price in writing.
This is general information, not legal advice. Official pages change, and the authority's current page takes precedence over this summary. We did not review the text of the Audiovisual Media Law or its executive regulations for this guide.
The freelance document: free at present
The freelance document comes from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development through freelance.sa and records that you work independently in an approved activity. Per its FAQ:
- Fee: none at present; any future fee will be announced.
- Who can apply: Saudi nationals aged 18 or over with an active Absher account.
- Validity: one year from the date of issue.
- Issue time: within 3 working days after the attachments are reviewed.
It does not replace Mawthooq. Asked about a freelance-document holder selling through websites, the authority's FAQ says that a media activity needs its licence.
Which speciality to pick, and what to attach
The ministry's Specialized Services list has no content-creation speciality. These are the closest to UGC work:
The closest freelance specialities to UGC tasks on 5 November 2026
| What you do | Closest speciality on the list |
|---|---|
| Shoot the product | Photographing, under Arts and Entertainment |
| Edit the video | Visual Editing (Video Editing), under Audio & Visual |
| Record voiceovers | Voice Performance (Dubbing), under Audio & Visual |
| Edit the sound | Voice editing (Audio Montage), under Audio & Visual |
| Write scripts | Linguistic Editing (Texts - Books - Advertisement - Digital Media), under Writing |
You choose the speciality when you apply, and the platform reviews your attachments. Attach at least two of these:
- A diploma or higher in a field related to the speciality.
- Training certificates in the same or a similar field, or a participation certificate from an accredited body.
- An account under your name and the mobile number registered on freelance.sa, holding work samples that match the speciality, such as an account with your UGC portfolio.
- A work or service contract with an accredited entity.
The cultural professions category is different: per the FAQ, a document there is issued by uploading a licence from the Ebda platform.