On June 18, 2026, the UAE Cabinet approved a resolution establishing 15 years as the minimum age for social media use across the country [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8]. Children under 15 are prohibited from creating or operating personal social media accounts or using platform features such as posting, commenting, sharing, joining groups, or opening channels [2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The Cabinet said, “Children under 15 will be prohibited from creating, using or operating personal social media accounts, including posting, commenting, sharing or joining public groups” [2].
Social media platforms operating in or targeting users in the UAE must implement robust age verification measures. These include digital identity checks and AI-supported technologies, with self-declared ages not accepted [2, 6, 8, 9, 10]. Platforms have up to 12 months from the announcement date to comply with the new age restrictions and verification requirements [2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]. The UAE Media and Telecommunications Regulatory Authorities warned they have “full authority to take all necessary measures against social media platforms that do not comply, including warnings, partial or full blocking, and administrative sanctions” [3].
Teenagers aged 15 and 16 may continue to use social media but must be subject to enhanced safeguards. These include age-appropriate content filters, restrictions on interacting with unknown users, screen-time management tools, and parental supervision features [2, 5, 8, 9, 10]. The regulations apply to all platforms operating in or targeting the UAE, whether free or paid [6].
The government cited protection of children from inappropriate content, unsafe interactions, excessive use, and risks related to personal data collection as motivation for the rules. The UAE Government Media Office said the measures are “designed to protect children from exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe interactions, excessive social media use, and personal data collection risks” [2].
According to a 2024 survey, children in the UAE spend about three hours daily on social media [5]. The UAE is the first Arab country to impose a social media minimum age limit of this kind [2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10]. Other countries including Australia, the UK, Canada, and several European nations have introduced or are considering similar age restrictions [2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10].
The UAE government announced the ban and enforcement details on June 19, 2026. Platforms must comply with the new rules by June 18, 2027, or face warnings, fines, blocking, and other penalties [9, 10].
