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The United Arab Emirates has acceptable a minimum property of 15 for societal media use, becoming the archetypal Arab country to present specified a regularisation arsenic governments worldwide question to code increasing concerns over the interaction of online platforms connected children.
Under a solution approved connected Thursday (June 18, 2026), children nether 15 volition beryllium prohibited from creating, utilizing oregon operating idiosyncratic societal media accounts. The prohibition means they volition not beryllium capable to station content, comment, share or articulation nationalist groups, the government’s media office said.
Teenagers aged 15 and 16 volition beryllium allowed to usage societal media platforms taxable to enhanced safeguards, including age-appropriate contented controls, restrictions connected interaction with chartless users, screen-time absorption tools and parental supervision features.
The rules use to each societal media platforms operating successful the UAE and necessitate companies to instrumentality robust age-verification measures, including integer identity checks and artificial intelligence-supported technologies. Self-declaration of property volition not beryllium accepted arsenic a valid signifier of verification.
Platforms indispensable besides disable accounts created by children nether 15, forestall users from circumventing age-verification systems and refrain from utilizing children’s idiosyncratic information for targeted advertizing oregon behavioural profiling.
The authorities said the measures were designed to code concerns implicit children’s vulnerability to inappropriate content, unsafe online interactions, excessive societal media usage and the postulation of personal data.
Social media companies volition person up to 12 months to comply with the caller regulations.
The UAE said the model aligns with international efforts to fortify online kid extortion portion balancing digital entree with safety.
Several countries, including Australia and others successful Europe, person moved to tighten restrictions connected children’s usage of societal media amid mounting concerns astir its effects connected intelligence health and online safety.
