UAE has announced a ban on the use of social media for children, setting the minimum age of use at 15 years old. The UAE cabinet, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, revealed the ban as a part of a resolution that regulates children’s access to social media.
As per the resolution, children below 15 years old will be prohibited from creating, using or operating personal accounts on social media platforms. They will also be prohibited from accessing the full features of these platforms, including social interactions, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces.
The resolution also takes into account the gradual transition toward healthier and more balanced digital habits, in a manner that aligns with the different age groups of children and adolescents by extending to children between the age of 15 and 16, who will be permitted to use the platforms, subject to protective measures applied to their accounts.
These measures will include age-appropriate content classification and restriction, disabling high-risk features such as interaction with unknown users, regulation of usage time and duration, and the provision of parental control tools.
Who does the new regulations apply to?
The resolution applies to all social media platforms whose services are available in the UAE and that enable users to create accounts or personal profiles, engage in social interaction, publish or share content, or that rely on algorithmic systems to display, rank, or recommend content, whether free or paid. It also extends to platforms that are directed at users in the country.
What does the social media ban mean for platforms?
With the new resolution in place, social media platforms are now required to make changes to adhere to enforce the prohibition and will have a transitional period of 12 months to implement all necessary technical and administrative measures to being their operations into compliance with the new regulations. These measures include:
- Putting effective and reliable age verification mechanisms in place, including digital identity verification, AI-supported technologies such as biometric tools, or any other mechanisms approved by the Child Digital Safety Council. Self-declaration of age will be considered to be an invalid method. The mechanisms must be subject to regular review and audit, and clear information must be provided to users on how they operate, in order to promote trust and transparency in the digital environment.
- Using mechanisms that have high level of accuracy in determining user age, while adhering to the highest standards of child privacy and personal data protection. This includes minimising data collection, securing data processing, and ensuring data is not retained beyond the period strictly necessary.
- Providing parental control tools and awareness materials for children and their caregivers, conduct periodic child digital safety risk assessments and submit regular reports to the competent authorities.
- Monitoring personal accounts created by children under the age of 15 in violation of the resolution’s provisions, and to take immediate action to suspend or disable such accounts.
- Implementing necessary measures to prevent circumvention of their systems and ensuring ensuring a safe digital environment appropriate to the children’s age.
- Ensuring effective communication and coordination with the competent authorities during the transitional period to guarantee technical and regulatory readiness.
Targeting children with personalised advertising based on tracking or behavioural profiling, and exploiting or processing their personal data for commercial purposes that depend on monitoring or tracking their digital activities has also been banned as part of this regulation.
The resolution also explicitly mentions that parental consent shall not constitute a valid exemption from the prohibitions or restrictions that have been set out. It further permits the parent/ guardian to configure the settings of accounts belonging to children between the ages of 15 and 16, through the parental control tools provided by social media platforms, provided that such configuration does not go against the prohibitions and restrictions in place.
Compliance with new regulations set out in the resolution will be monitored by National Media Authority, the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority. In the event of non-compliance, the the aforementioned authorities will take measures that range from a warning to partial or full blocking of platforms or the imposition of penalties as applied while progressively escalating penalties on further non-compliance.
New phase of digital space regulations
Part of a legislative framework encompassing the Child Rights Law that focuses on child digital safety, the resolution comes amidst the growing use of social media platforms by children and the increasing digital challenges and risks associated with such use, including exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe interactions, the collection of personal data and patterns of excessive usage.
The resolution reflects the UAE’s commitment to establishing an advanced model for child protection in the digital space, reinforcing the national digital safety framework in line with the rapid evolution of technology use, and striking a balance between enabling responsible use of modern technologies and ensuring the highest standards of child protection.
This necessitates the development of an integrated national framework that enables children to benefit from technology while ensuring their protection in the digital environment, and reflects the UAE’s proactive approach in developing advanced legislative models that keep pace with global digital transformations and place child safety among its priorities.
