In a step that reflects the UAE’s commitment to supporting and strengthening child protection in the digital environment, the UAE Cabinet, chaired by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, has issued a new decision aimed at regulating children’s access to various social media platforms. The measure is part of a broader framework designed to establish an advanced digital safety system and keep pace with the rapid transformations in technology use.
The decision comes amid the significant increase in children’s use of social media platforms and the growing challenges associated with it, including exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe online interactions, the collection of personal data, and patterns of excessive use. Through this regulation, the UAE seeks to strike a balance between enabling children to benefit from modern technologies and protecting them from the risks associated with them, in line with the country’s priorities of enhancing quality of life and building a safe digital environment.
The decision also strengthens the existing legislative framework for child protection, which includes the Child Rights Law and legislation related to combating cybercrime, regulating media, and ensuring digital safety. This supports institutional integration and provides a more comprehensive framework for protecting children in cyberspace.
Age Restrictions and Enhanced Protection Measures
The decision applies to all social media platforms that allow users to create personal accounts, engage in social interaction, publish and share content, or rely on algorithms to organize and recommend content, whether their services are paid or free of charge. It also applies to platforms available within the UAE or targeting users in the country.
The decision sets 15 years of age as the minimum age for using social media platforms, prohibiting children under this age from creating, operating, or using personal accounts. It also prevents them from accessing the platforms’ full features, including posting, commenting, sharing, and joining public groups, open channels, and large-scale interactive spaces.
Children aged between 15 and 16, however, are permitted to use these platforms under specific regulations that include age-appropriate content classification and restrictions, disabling certain features that may involve higher risks—such as interacting with unknown users—as well as regulating screen time and providing parental control tools.
The decision emphasizes that parental consent does not constitute an exception to the stated prohibitions or restrictions. However, it allows a child’s guardian to make full use of parental control tools to manage account settings for users aged 15 to 16, ensuring the safe and balanced use of technology while reinforcing its role in learning and skill development.
Platform Obligations and Regulatory Oversight
The decision requires social media platforms to implement effective mechanisms for verifying users’ ages through multiple methods, including digital identity systems, artificial intelligence technologies, biometric methods, or other mechanisms approved by the Child Digital Safety Council.
It also stipulates that self-declared age alone is insufficient as a verification method, stressing the need to achieve high levels of accuracy in determining age groups. In addition, platforms must adhere to the highest standards of privacy and child data protection, minimize data collection to the minimum necessary, ensure secure processing, and retain data only for the period required.
As part of their responsibilities, platforms are required to identify accounts belonging to children under the age of 15 and take immediate action to suspend or disable them, while preventing any attempts to circumvent age verification systems. They are also prohibited from targeting children with behavior-based advertising or exploiting their personal data for commercial purposes.
The decision further obliges social media platforms to provide parental control tools and educational materials for children and their families, conduct periodic digital safety risk assessments, and submit regular reports to the relevant authorities.
On the other hand, the decision places responsibility on parents and guardians to ensure that children do not use social media platforms in violation of the established regulations, to refrain from circumventing age verification mechanisms, to actively supervise authorized digital activities, and to enhance children’s awareness of online risks and safe internet practices.
The decision assigns oversight and supervisory responsibilities to the National Media Office and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, each within its respective jurisdiction, granting them the authority to take the necessary measures against non-compliant platforms, including issuing warnings, imposing partial or full blocking, or applying appropriate administrative penalties.
The Child Digital Safety Council will also be responsible for assessing risks related to children’s access to social media platforms and proposing the necessary measures to address them, while platforms have been granted a transitional period of no more than 12 months to comply with the new requirements.
This regulation aligns with modern global trends in digital child protection and reflects the UAE’s efforts to build a balanced model that combines innovation, proactive legislation, and shared responsibility, reinforcing its position as one of the leading countries in providing a safe and sustainable digital environment for children.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
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Author: Advisor Faisal Al-Mutairi.
Publication Date: June 18, 2026.
Last Updated: June 2026.
