The United Arab Emirates has introduced a minimum age requirement of 15 years for social media use. Following the move, it has become the first Arab country to impose such a restriction, a report suggests. The new rules were reportedly approved under a government resolution, prohibiting children under 15 from creating, operating, or using personal social media accounts. Consequently, social media apps operating in the region will be required to impose stricter age-verification mechanisms.
Reuters reports that the newly imposed restrictions cover all core platform activities, such as posting content, commenting, sharing material, and joining public groups. While teenagers aged 15 and 16 will still be able to access social media apps, there will be additional safeguards in place.
Such measures are said to include age-appropriate content controls, limited interactions with unknown users, tools for screen-time management, and parental supervision controls. With this move, the UAE reportedly aims to protect children from inappropriate content, online exploitation, and privacy-related risks, while also reducing excessive social media usage.
As per the report, the new regulations apply to all social media platforms operating in the UAE, and they will be required to implement age-verification systems beyond simply self-declaration. The UAE government reportedly emphasised that such apps must leverage digital identity verification tools and AI-backed technologies to confirm a user’s age.
Further, accounts of children under the age of 15 will have to be disabled by the social media companies, along with preventing attempts to bypass the age-verification systems and terminating the use of children’s personal data for targeted advertising. Companies have been given a period of 12 months to comply with the new regulations.
UAE’s restrictions on social media follows a broader trend of tighter regulation of children’s online activity globally. In November 2024, Australia became the first country in the world to block access to social media access for children under 16. The most recent example is the UK, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer on June 15 said the government plans to block social media access for under-16s by the end of this year. Its implementation is expected in 2027.
Elsewhere, the European Union is also said to be examining stronger protections for children online. In May, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that the bloc would target its focus towards addictive and harmful social media design practices under the upcoming Digital Fairness Act, which is reportedly expected to be proposed towards the end of the year.
