The Maldives Journalists Association (MJA) has requested the Maldives Police Service to look into social media campaigns aimed at Maldivian journalists who visited the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the invitation of Eagle Hills, the company developing the Rasmale' project.

In a correspondence to Commissioner of Police Ahmed Mohamed, the MJA stated that Eagle Hills arranged the familiarisation tour for journalists to witness the company's global progress.

The organization stated that images and recordings of the journalists are being shared online in an effort to discredit them. The letter states that journalists are being referred to as “traitors”, “Zionists” and “Jews”, facing derogatory language. The MJA mentioned that “certain individuals on social media are sharing hateful images and producing videos targeting these journalists,” highlighting that these campaigns have instilled fear in journalists and their families while raising issues regarding personal safety.

The MJA stated that journalists operate in line with the editorial guidelines of their media organizations, and personal assaults on individuals carrying out their professional roles are intolerable. The association included three demands in its complaint: to regard the issue as urgent and initiate a formal inquiry into those responsible for the campaigns, to perform an immediate security risk evaluation for the impacted journalists, and to guarantee sufficient police protection for them and their families.

MJA President Naif Ahmed stated that no journalist should be afraid for their safety just for performing their duties. He observed that these types of invitations are prevalent in the international media sector, where reporters cover stories from personal experience. Distributing their images, branding them as traitors, and orchestrating intentional smear campaigns to threaten and discourage journalists constitutes a serious assault on press freedom. "Disagreements in editorial perspectives must never cross into personal attacks and threats," he stated.