The UAE government has issued a new Federal Decree-Law that aims to protect children from harmful digital content and practices that negatively affect their physical, mental, and moral well-being.
The comprehensive legal framework was issued by a decision of the UAE Cabinet following the approval of the Council for Education, Human Development, and Community Development. It establishes a system to classify all digital platforms, whether they operate within the UAE or are directed at users within the UAE, based on an assessment of their risk and impact on children.
The new law defines the roles and responsibilities of the relevant authorities in this regard. It establishes a ‘Children’s Digital Safety Council’, which will be chaired by the Minister for the Family and act as an advisory and coordinating body to achieve coordination between government and local organizations and the private sector in efforts to ensure children’s digital safety.
The new law prohibits digital platforms from collecting, processing, publishing, or sharing personal data of children under the age of 13, except under certain circumstances. The Decree-Law also allows for the exemption of platforms used for educational or health purposes from this ban.
The new law also prohibits digital platforms from allowing minors to participate, create accounts, or access online commercial games that involve gambling or digital activities that involve betting money.
UAE strengthens digital protection for children
The law outlines a set of obligations for digital platforms to ensure the protection of children from harmful content in the digital environment. This includes establishing and implementing automatic privacy settings, providing age verification methods, providing tools to enforce age restrictions, enabling blocking, filtering, and age rating tools for content, and controlling targeted online advertising.
It also outlines a set of obligations for Internet service providers, including activating content filtering systems on their networks to improve compliance with policies that prevent harmful content for children, and taking the necessary steps to ensure the safe and supervised use of Internet services or electronic devices by children. This includes requiring the child’s guardian to sign the terms of service, including those that mandate the integration of parental control tools.
The law also outlines a set of responsibilities for child carers in this regard. They must monitor the child’s digital activities, use parental control tools to ensure safe use and protection from harmful content, and avoid creating children’s accounts on digital platforms that are not age appropriate or do not comply with advanced child protection standards.
The duties of the newly formed Council will include proposals for policies, laws, and strategies to ensure high levels of child safety; promoting awareness campaigns; and conducting studies to monitor the digital risks that arise due to rapid technological developments.
The ruling applies to internet service providers and digital platforms, regardless of whether they operate within the UAE or target users within the UAE. Platforms covered by the law include websites, search engines, smart applications, messaging applications, forums, online gaming platforms, social networks, live streaming platforms, podcast platforms, streaming services, online video on demand platforms, and e-commerce platforms.
I new The decree-law is in line with the UAE’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of the Family.
