UAE sets 15 minimum age for social media access

The United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab country to set a minimum age of 15 for social media use, a policy that could change how platforms verify children and how much family data must be surrendered to open an account. The June 18 Cabinet resolution bars anyone under 15 from creating, using or operating personal social media accounts, including posting, commenting, sharing or joining public groups.

The rule goes beyond a simple age cutoff. Teenagers 15 and 16 can still use platforms, but only with stronger safeguards that include age-appropriate content controls, limits on contact with unknown users, screen-time management tools and parental supervision features. Platforms operating in the UAE, or directed at users in the country, must also build robust age-verification systems, including digital identity checks and AI-supported technologies. Self-declaration will not count as proof of age, and companies must block attempts to bypass verification.

That makes the policy a practical test case for mandatory age assurance. To comply, social media firms will have to decide how much personal information to collect from children, parents and guardians, and how to prevent that information from being repurposed for tracking or advertising. The government has already barred companies from using children’s personal data for targeted advertising or behavioral profiling, a recognition that safety rules can quickly become surveillance rules if guardrails are weak.

The resolution sits inside a broader legal push that began with Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on Child Digital Safety, which came into force on January 1, 2026. Officials have described that framework as part of a wider child-protection system involving the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority, the Ministry of Family and the Child Digital Safety Council, alongside awareness and training efforts for students, parents and teachers. Government messaging has linked the campaign to the country’s 2026 Year of Family agenda.

Platforms have up to 12 months to comply, giving companies time to build or adapt verification tools before the rules are fully enforced. The UAE’s move aligns it with a wider international shift, after Australia set 16 as the minimum age for social media access and the United Kingdom tightened age-assurance expectations for online services likely to be used by children.

Inside the country, parents and schools have welcomed the age limit as a needed response to concerns over mental health, privacy and online safety. The deeper question now is whether the UAE’s system will protect minors without normalizing routine digital identity checks for everyone else.