UAE’S UNDER-15 SOCIAL MEDIA BAN MAKES IT FIRST ARAB NATION TO ACT ON KIDS’ ONLINE SAFETY

Sat 20 June 2026:

The United Arab Emirates on Thursday announced that children under the age of 15 will no longer be allowed to use social media platforms, becoming the first Arab country to adopt such a restriction.

The measure was approved by the UAE Cabinet and announced by the state news agency WAM. It comes as several Arab countries consider similar regulations, including Egypt, which announced plans to pursue comparable measures few months ago.

The Cabinet said the decision aims “to regulate children’s access to social media in response to their growing use of digital platforms and the associated risks, including exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe interactions, collection of personal data, and excessive use.”

The regulations apply to social media platforms that allow users to create accounts or profiles, interact with others, publish or share content, or rely on algorithmic systems to display, rank, or recommend content, whether the services are free or paid.

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The rules cover all social media platforms operating in the UAE or targeting users within the country.

Under the decision, children under the age of 15 are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms.

They are also barred from accessing the platforms’ full features, including social interaction, posting, commenting, sharing content, joining public groups or open channels, or participating in large-scale interactive spaces.

The decision requires platforms to implement all necessary technical and organizational measures to enforce the rules through effective and reliable age-verification mechanisms, including digital identity systems or artificial intelligence-supported technologies.

Social media companies operating in or targeting the UAE must also identify accounts belonging to children under 15 that were created in violation of the regulations and immediately suspend or deactivate them, while taking steps to prevent circumvention of the rules.

Oversight of compliance has been assigned to the National Media Office and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, each within its respective jurisdiction.

Platforms have been granted a transitional period of up to 12 months to bring their operations into compliance.

The decision also authorizes regulators to impose enforcement measures in cases of noncompliance, including warnings, partial or full platform blocking, and administrative penalties, with sanctions applied progressively.

According to the “Digital 2026: UAE” report published in June by DataReportal website, the country had 11.3 million internet users by the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026, representing an internet penetration rate of 99% of the population.

The report also found that the UAE had 12.5 million active social media identities during the same reference period.

-Source: AA

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