UAE Sets Minimum Age of 15 for Social Media Use

The Cabinet, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, may God protect him, issued a decision regarding the regulation of children's access to social media platforms, in a step that reflects the United Arab Emirates' direction toward establishing an advanced model for child protection in the digital space, strengthening the digital safety system, and keeping pace with the accelerating transformations in the use of technology, as the decision aims to enable children to benefit from it within a safe, balanced digital environment appropriate to their ages.

The decision comes amid the expanding use of social media platforms by children and the associated increasing digital challenges and risks, which include exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe interaction, the collection of personal data, and patterns of excessive use, thereby necessitating the development of an integrated national framework that balances enabling children to benefit from technology with enhancing their protection in the digital environment, and that reflects the United Arab Emirates' leadership in developing advanced legislative models that keep pace with global digital transformations and place the child's safety and quality of life among its national priorities.

The decision also strengthens the integration of the legislative system related to child protection, which includes the Child Rights Law, the legislation related to combating cybercrime, media regulation, and the digital safety of the child, in a manner that reinforces the integration of institutional roles and the state's approach to providing a safer digital environment for children.

The decision covers social media platforms that allow the user to create accounts or personal profiles, or that enable the user to engage in social interaction and to publish and circulate content, or that rely on algorithmic systems in displaying, ordering, or recommending content, whether free or paid, and it applies to all social media platforms, whether those whose services are available within the country or those directed at users within it.

The decision set the minimum age for using social media platforms at (15) years, whereby children under this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms, and they are also prohibited from accessing the full features of the platforms, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups or open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces. The decision obligates platforms to take all the necessary technical and regulatory measures to achieve this, while taking into account the gradual transition toward more balanced and healthier digital habits, in keeping with the different age stages of children and young people.

The decision permitted children between the ages of (15) and (16) to use social media platforms, provided that their accounts are subjected to special protection measures that include classifying and restricting content according to age group, disabling high-risk features such as interaction with unknown users, regulating the times and durations of use, and providing parental control tools.

The decision also stipulated that the guardian's consent shall not be considered an exception to the prohibition or the restrictions established under it, and it permitted the person responsible for the child's care to adjust the settings on the accounts of children who have completed the age of (15) fifteen and have not yet completed the age of (16) sixteen, through the parental control tools provided by social media platforms, in a manner that does not conflict with the established prohibition and restrictions, so as to ensure a safe digital environment appropriate to children's ages and to contribute to enhancing the positive use of technology in learning and acquiring skills, while reducing exposure to digital risks.

The decision obligated social media platforms to apply effective and reliable mechanisms to verify the user's age, such as digital identity or technologies supported by artificial intelligence, including biometric means or any other mechanisms approved by the Child Digital Safety Council.