The United Arab Emirates has become the first Arab nation to impose a minimum age requirement for social media use, setting 15 years as the legal threshold and introducing strict age-verification rules for digital platforms. The new regulation, approved by the UAE Cabinet on June 18, aims to strengthen child protection in the online environment and address growing concerns over digital safety.
Biggest Impact: Meta
Meta is likely to face the largest impact because its platforms — Facebook, Instagram, and Threads — have substantial teenage user bases. The company will need to strengthen age verification, remove accounts belonging to users under 15, and limit advertising and profiling of younger users. Instagram’s teen-focused engagement model may see the biggest effect.
TikTok
TikTok is another major platform affected. A significant share of TikTok’s engagement comes from younger users. The UAE rules could reduce user growth among teenagers while increasing compliance costs related to AI-powered age checks and content controls.
Snap
Snapchat has traditionally been popular among younger audiences. The platform will need to introduce stricter parental supervision tools, enhanced privacy protections, and stronger safeguards against interactions with unknown users.
X
X (formerly Twitter) may experience a smaller impact because its audience skews older than TikTok or Snapchat. However, it must still comply with mandatory age verification and child protection requirements.
YouTube
YouTube could face operational challenges if UAE authorities classify parts of its service as social media rather than purely video streaming. Age verification, comment restrictions, and protections for younger users may need to be strengthened. Similar restrictions are being considered or implemented in other countries targeting YouTube alongside other social platforms.
Other Platforms
The UAE regulation applies to all social media platforms operating in the country, meaning services such as:
Discord
Twitch
may also need to implement stronger age-verification and child-safety measures if they fall within the scope of the regulation.
Under the new framework, children under 15 will be prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal social media accounts. They will also be barred from posting content, commenting, sharing information, or joining public groups and interactive online communities.
Teenagers aged 15 and 16 will be allowed to access social media, but only with enhanced safeguards, including age-appropriate content controls, restrictions on contact with unknown users, screen-time management tools, and parental oversight features.
The regulation applies to all social media platforms operating in the UAE. Companies will be required to implement robust age-verification systems using digital identity checks and artificial intelligence-based technologies, while self-declared age information will no longer be accepted.
Social media platforms must disable accounts belonging to users under 15, prevent attempts to bypass age checks, and refrain from using children’s data for targeted advertising or behavioral profiling. Social media companies have up to 12 months to comply with the new requirements.
The UAE said the measures are designed to reduce children’s exposure to inappropriate content, unsafe online interactions, excessive screen time, and misuse of personal data. The move aligns with a growing global trend, as countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Sweden, and others explore or implement stricter controls on children’s access to social media platforms.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
