The United Arab Emirates has introduced a landmark resolution establishing 15 as the minimum age for creating and managing personal social media accounts, effectively ending the era of self-declared age verification. Under the new mandate, social media platforms are required to implement advanced AI-powered identity checks and robust age-verification systems, such as the UAE’s Digital ID, to prevent underage users from bypassing restrictions. While parental consent will no longer serve as an exemption to these rules, the government clarified that young content creators are not banned from the digital space; instead, their content must be managed and published through accounts owned and controlled by their parents or legal guardians.

To ensure compliance, the government has granted platforms a 12-month transition period to integrate these technical safeguards, which will include features like screen time controls and restricted interactions for users aged 15 to 16. Officials stressed that the legislation—backed by medical and child development research—aims to protect the cognitive and mental well-being of youth by curbing the negative impacts of excessive screen time and fragmented content. Platforms that fail to adhere to these new standards will face graduated enforcement actions, ranging from administrative penalties to potential site-wide bans, as authorities seek to foster a safer, more developmentally appropriate digital environment for the country's youth.