- UAE bans social media for children under 15.
- Companies will have to verify age through digital means.
- Children aged 15-16 years will get additional social media protection.
- Increasing global trend with adverse effects on children’s health.
UAE Social Media Ban: After Australia and UK, now United Arab Emirates (UAE) has also joined the list of countries banning social media for children. According to reports, the minimum age for using social media platforms in UAE has been set at 15 years. This means that children below 15 years of age will not be able to use social media platforms. UAE has become the first Arab country to do so.
Children will not be able to create social media accounts
Under the new rules, children below 15 years of age will not be allowed to create, operate and use social media accounts. This means that children will no longer be able to post, comment, share any kind of content and join public groups on social media. Even though children above 15 years of age have been kept out of this ban, there will be additional security measures for 15 and 16 year old children on social media. 15 and 16 year old children will not be able to talk to strangers on social media platforms and these platforms will have to introduce safeguards like screen time management, parental supervision and age-appropriate content control.
Social media companies will have to do age verification
By bringing new rules, UAE has made age verification mandatory for social media companies. Social media platforms will now have to verify the user’s age using digital identity checks and AI technology. The age declared by the user will not be considered as verification. These rules will apply to all social media companies operating in UAE. If a child below 15 years of age creates an account then companies will have to disable it. Also, companies will not be able to use children’s personal data for behavioral profiling and targeted advertising. Social media companies have been given 12 months to comply with the rules.
The trend of banning social media for children is increasing
After Australia’s initiative, the trend of banning social media platforms for children is increasing in countries around the world. UK had recently announced this. Apart from this, many other countries including Canada, Malaysia, France, Norway, Germany have also started considering this. In fact, due to social media, the mental and physical health of children is being adversely affected. In view of this, governments are now imposing restrictions on children’s access to social media.
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