Published on 6/18/2026
The UAE has decided to ban the use of social media platforms for children under the age of 15, as the first Arab country to take this step after Western countries including Australia, Britain and Canada.
A UAE Cabinet decision obligated social media platforms operating in the country to monitor the personal accounts of children under the age of 15 established in violation of the provisions of the decision and take measures to immediately suspend or disable them, giving them 12 months to comply.
The Council stressed the need for social media platforms to implement effective and reliable mechanisms to verify the user’s age, and to take the necessary technical and organizational measures to prevent circumvention of the systems.
According to the decision, “Children under the age of 15 are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms, and their access to the full features of the platforms is prohibited, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, participating, or joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces.”
The decision permitted children between the ages of 15 and 16 to use social media platforms, provided that their accounts are subject to special protection measures that include classifying and restricting content according to age group, disabling high-risk features, regulating times and durations of use, and providing parental control tools.
The decision stipulated that the guardian’s approval should not be taken into account as an exception to the ban or restrictions established pursuant to it, while it permitted the child’s caregiver to adjust the settings on the accounts of children who have reached the age of 15 and under the age of 16 through the parental control tools provided by social media platforms in a manner that does not conflict with the ban and the established restrictions.
According to the Emirates News Agency, WAM, the decision comes in light of the expansion of children’s use of social media platforms and the associated challenges and increasing digital risks.
In December, Australia took the initiative to implement the world’s first ban on social media for children under the age of 16, and several countries followed in its footsteps, including Britain, which announced a similar ban this week.
In this context, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, and many European countries have tightened control over teenagers’ use of social media, but these measures are still limited in the Arab region.
The Egyptian Parliament announced last February that it was “taking serious steps to study the adoption of legislation regulating children’s use of social networking sites and putting an end to the digital chaos” they face.
In Morocco, the Minister of Youth, Culture and Communication, Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid, spoke last year about discussing a draft law to “frame” digital platforms.
As for Tunisia, in 2025, the Ministry of Family launched the National Charter to ensure a safe environment for children in the digital space, while in Jordan at the beginning of this year, parliamentary proposals were put forward to restrict the use of social networking sites for those under 16 years of age, and the government formed a national committee to study ways to protect children and adolescents on the Internet, including mechanisms for verifying age and regulating access to platforms, but no executive action has been taken so far.
As for Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Media Regulation issued controls for media and electronic content regarding children in September 2025, including prohibiting photographing them or domestic workers and using them as daily content.
