Today's Edition
MAYS IBRAHIM (ABU DHABI)
Social media platforms operating in the UAE will be required to use government-approved age verification methods to enforce the Cabinet decision which set 15 as the minimum age for opening a personal social media account.
At a media briefing in Dubai on Wednesday, UAE officials offered a detailed look at how the regulations, approved last month, will be implemented.
Teenagers aged 15 to under 16 will be permitted to use social media under an enhanced protection regime that includes restrictions on certain high-risk features, stronger parental controls and additional safeguards around content and online interactions.
Minister of Family and Chairwoman of the Child Digital Safety Council, Sana bint Mohammed Suhail, said the policy was designed to shift the government's approach towards preventing digital harms instead of responding to them.
"The decision does not aim to restrict the use of technology or limit children's opportunities to benefit from it," she told journalists. "Rather, it organises access according to scientific and regulatory principles that take into account the needs of every age group while providing appropriate levels of protection."
The minister said the policy recognises that digital risks evolve as children grow and is designed to balance access to technology with age-appropriate protections.
"Digital transformation is no longer something we prepare for in the future, it has become a reality that we live every day," she said. "Social media platforms now play an influential role in shaping children's awareness, behaviour and relationships."
The framework, she added, establishes a model of shared responsibility between the government, families and digital platforms that are required to build child safety measures into the design and operation of their services.
Enforcement and Age Verification
Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) Director General, Majed Sultan Al Mesmar, said that platforms will be granted a 12-month transitional period to meet the new compliance obligations before the authority begins taking enforcement actions against violators.
Platforms will be required to use reliable age verification systems, including UAE Pass, official identity documents, AI-powered age estimation technology and government-approved age verification providers.
Meanwhile, self-declaration of age will no longer be accepted as verification of method, according to TDRA.
Al Mesmar said the regulations were developed following extensive studies of the risks children face online, including exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe interactions, excessive data collection and targeted advertising.
He further stressed that verification systems must comply with strict privacy standards by collecting only the minimum data necessary to confirm the user's ages and prohibiting its use for any other purpose.
Can Children Create Content?
Mohammed Al Musabbi, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of Family, said 15 was chosen because it aligns with children's cognitive and developmental stages.
The framework was informed by growing evidence linking excessive social media use with health concerns among children and adolescents, according to the Ministry of Health and Prevention.
Dr Hussein Abdulrahman Al Rand, assistant undersecretary for the public health sector, said studies have associated unbalanced social media use with sleep disorders, anxiety, stress, reduced concentration and social isolation.
However, the regulations do not prevent children from creating videos or expressing themselves online.
Instead, they restrict ownership and operation of personal social media accounts, while allowing children to create content under parental supervision, Eng. Abdulrahman Al Marzouqi, Director Policy and Programmes Department, TDRA, explained.
The National Media Authority will also develop national standards for children's media content and introduce an age-classification framework to help parents make more informed decisions about what their children watch online.
Officials said the effectiveness of the policy would be monitored over time and reviewed as technology and online risks evolve.
