UAE Becomes The Latest To Ban Social Media For Children: Why Global Crackdown Is Growing
UAE Becomes The Latest To Ban Social Media For Children: Why Global Crackdown Is Growing Published By, Last Updated: June 19, 2026, 16:18 IST The
UAE Becomes The Latest To Ban Social Media For Children: Why Global Crackdown Is Growing Published By, Last Updated: June 19, 2026, 16:18 IST The UAE has become the first Arab country to impose a social media ban for children, barring under-15s from creating or using personal accounts. Rapid Read Children under 15 will also be prevented from accessing the full range of social features. (Representative image) The United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab country to restrict children’s access to social media, banning those under 15 from creating or operating personal accounts and preventing parents from overriding the rule. The decision comes just days after Britain announced plans to bar under-16s from social media and six months after Australia became the first country to enforce a nationwide social media ban for children. What Has The UAE Announced? Under the resolution approved by the UAE Cabinet, children below 15 cannot create, use or operate personal social media accounts. The restriction is not limited to signing up for a new account. Children under 15 will also be prevented from accessing the full range of social features, including publishing, commenting, sharing and joining public groups, open channels or other large-scale interactive spaces. Parental or caregiver consent will not be accepted as an exemption. This means parents cannot legally authorise an under-15 child to maintain an account despite the nationwide restriction. Children aged between 15 and 16 will be permitted to use social media, but their accounts will be subject to enhanced protections. These may include age-appropriate content classification, restricted access to high-risk features, regulated usage time and parental-control tools that cannot override preset safety measures.
The resolution builds on the UAE’s Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on Child Digital Safety, which took effect on January 1, 2026. Why Are Governments Turning To Bans? For years, governments largely relied on platforms to set their own minimum ages and expected parents to monitor children’s online activity. That approach has increasingly been judged inadequate. Many platforms allow users to enter their own dates of birth, enabling children to bypass age restrictions easily. Parental controls may also be difficult to configure, inconsistent across services or unable to govern what algorithms recommend once a child begins using an account. Governments pushing age limits argue that children face a combination of risks: cyberbullying, sexual exploitation, contact with strangers, harmful or age-inappropriate material, privacy violations and social pressure driven by online comparison and validation. The concern is not only about what children see, but also how platforms are designed. Features such as infinite scrolling, constant notifications, autoplay, livestreaming and personalised recommendation systems are built to sustain engagement. Policymakers increasingly argue that young users should not be expected to resist products deliberately designed to hold their attention. Australia Set The Global Precedent Australia became the first country to implement a nationwide social media ban for children when its minimum-age law came into effect on December 10, 2025. The Australian rules prohibit children under 16 from maintaining accounts on major platforms and, like the UAE framework, do not allow parental consent as an exemption. The restrictions cover services including YouTube, X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit, Twitch, Threads and Kick. Technology companies can face fines of up to A$50 million if they fail to take reasonable measures to enforce the law.
The BriefWire