UAE Imposes Social Media Ban For Under-15s.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced a nationwide ban on social media use for children below the age of 15, becoming one of several countries taking steps to limit young people’s access to online platforms.

Under a new cabinet resolution, social media companies will be required to identify and deactivate accounts operated by users under 15 years old or face possible sanctions, including restrictions and penalties.

The government has granted platforms a 12-month transition period to comply with the new regulations.

“The resolution sets the minimum age for social media use at 15 years,” the state-run WAM news agency quoted the cabinet resolution as saying.

According to the directive, “Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms.”

The restrictions go beyond account ownership, as underage users will also be prevented from “accessing the full features of such platforms, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces.”

The move follows similar actions by countries such as Australia, Britain, and Canada. Australia introduced a landmark ban on social media access for under-16s in December, while Britain recently announced comparable measures.

WAM reported that the UAE’s media and telecommunications regulators have been empowered to enforce compliance and have the “authority to take all necessary measures (against social media platforms in the event of non-compliance).”

Possible penalties include “warning or partial or full blocking of platforms or the imposition of applicable administrative penalties,” according to the resolution.