Too Young to Scroll: UAE Bans Social Media for Under-15s

3 min 42 sec

Written by

David Yates

Partner, Head of Digital & Data

d.yates@tamimi.com View LinkedIn Profile

Valeria Dessolis

Senior Legal Technology Advisor

V.Dessolis@tamimi.com

On 18 June 2026, the UAE Cabinet, chaired by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued a landmark resolution prohibiting children under the age of 15 from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms. The resolution also restricts full access to platform features for this age group.

This Cabinet resolution implements key provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on Child Digital Safety (the “CDS Law”), which was issued in October 2025 and entered into force on 1 January 2026. The CDS Law establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework governing children’s interactions with digital platforms, with a one-year grace period for compliance expiring in January 2027.

The UAE becomes the first Arab nation to set a minimum age for social media use, joining a growing global movement that includes Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Indonesia, and Malaysia, all of which have enacted or announced similar restrictions in recent months.

Social media platforms whose services are available within the UAE or directed at users in the country have been granted a transitional period of up to 12 months to achieve full compliance with the new requirements.

Whilst the legislation is a UAE federal law, its practical impact extends globally. Any platform that: (i) operates within the UAE; (ii) directs its services at users in the UAE; or (iii) is accessible to UAE-based users, must comply with the CDS Law and implementing resolutions. This mirrors the extraterritorial approach taken by the EU’s GDPR and Digital Services Act, and means that platforms headquartered in the United States, Europe, Asia, or elsewhere will need to assess and address their compliance obligations with respect to UAE users.

Under the resolution and the CDS Law, platforms must:

• Implement accurate and reliable age verification mechanisms to determine users’ ages at the point of account creation and on an ongoing basis.
• Monitor accounts for non-compliance (i.e., under-15 users) and take immediate action to suspend or disable such accounts.
• Provide default privacy settings that protect children’s data and restrict access to harmful content.
• Implement age-based controls, content filtering, and age-rating systems.
• Offer parental control tools enabling caregivers to manage children’s accounts.
• Conduct proactive content monitoring and provide reporting tools for harmful content.
• Periodically disclose user and content policies to the relevant authorities.

How can we help?

The 12-month transitional period presents both a deadline and an opportunity. Organizations that act decisively now will be best positioned to achieve compliance, avoid enforcement action, and demonstrate their commitment to child safety, a matter of increasing importance to regulators, consumers, and investors alike.

Our team has deep expertise in UAE technology regulation, data protection, and digital platform compliance. We are ready to support your organization with:

• Regulatory Gap Analysis – a comprehensive assessment of your current operations against the requirements of the CDS Law, the Cabinet resolution, and related UAE legislation (Cybercrimes Law, Media Law, PDPL).
• Compliance Strategy and Roadmap – development of a prioritized implementation plan aligned with the 12-month transitional period, including milestone tracking and risk mitigation.
• Age Verification Implementation – advisory on technically robust and legally compliant age verification mechanisms that satisfy the “accurate and reliable” standard required by the resolution.
• Data Protection Alignment – ensuring your data handling practices comply with the CDS Law’s restrictions on children’s data (particularly the near-absolute prohibition for under-13s) and are aligned with the UAE PDPL.
• Terms of Service and Privacy Notice Updates – comprehensive review and revision of user-facing legal documentation to reflect new obligations, age-gating requirements, and caregiver consent mechanisms.
• Parental Control Integration – guidance on designing and implementing parental control tools that meet regulatory expectations whilst maintaining a positive user experience.
• Content Moderation Framework Development – advisory on establishing or enhancing content moderation systems to identify and address harmful content as defined under the CDS Law.
• Ongoing Regulatory Monitoring/Horizon Scanning – as implementing regulations and the platform classification system are published, we will keep you informed of developments and their implications for your business.

We strongly encourage affected organizations to begin their compliance journey without delay. The breadth of obligations under the CDS Law – spanning age verification, data protection, content moderation, platform design, and reporting – means that achieving full compliance within 12 months will require prompt and coordinated action across legal, technical, and operational functions.

Please do not hesitate to contact our team to discuss how these developments affect your organization and how we can assist you in navigating this evolving regulatory landscape.