Recently, the UK government announced a ban on social media for children under 16, and now the UAE has followed suit by prohibiting social media access for individuals under 15 years old. This makes the UAE the first Arab nation to implement such a regulation.
Children under 15 are not allowed to create, use, or manage personal social media accounts. Consequently, they will be unable to post content, comment, share, or participate in public groups.
Individuals aged 15 to 16 will have limited access to social media, which will be subject to certain controls aimed at ensuring age-appropriate content. These controls include restrictions on interactions with unknown users, screen-time management tools, and features for parental supervision.
Under the new regulations, social media companies must implement age verification systems, which can include digital identity checks and AI-assisted technologies. Self-declaration of age will not be regarded as a valid method of verification.
Additionally, social media platforms must disable accounts that were created by users under 15 years of age. They must also ensure that users cannot bypass age verification measures (though the methods of prevention are currently unspecified) and that children's personal information is not used for targeted advertising or behavioral profiling.
Social media companies will have one year to comply with these new regulations.
