The United Arab Emirates announced a social media ban for children under 15 on Thursday, joining a growing group of countries including Australia, Britain and Canada to take similar measures.
Social media platforms will have to monitor and disable accounts created by under-15s or risk being blocked, a cabinet resolution said, giving them a 12-month transition period.
“The resolution sets the minimum age for social media use at 15 years,” the official WAM news agency said, citing the cabinet resolution.
“Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms.”
After Australia began a world-first social media ban for under-16s in December, a number of countries have followed suit, including Britain, which announced its ban this week.
Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and several European countries have also cracked down on teen use of social media, although the UAE is the first in the Arab world.
The bans were inspired by concerns over mental health, cyber-bullying and a lack of physical activity, as well as online predators and addictive behaviour.
Critics say they are hard to enforce, deprive kids of social connection and can force undesirable behaviour into darker digital spaces where monitoring is difficult.
The UAE’s resolution is “closely aligned with leading global trends in digital child protection”, WAM said.
It bars children from “accessing the full features of (social media) platforms, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces”.
Children aged 15-16 are allowed to use social media, but with “enhanced protective measures” such as content restrictions and time limits on usage.
Bodies controlling media and telecommunications have “authority to take all necessary measures (against social media platforms) in the event of non-compliance”, WAM said.
These include “warning or partial or full blocking of platforms or the imposition of applicable administrative penalties”.
Parents and caregivers are also responsible for stopping children from using social media or getting around age checks, the resolution said, adding: “Parental consent shall not constitute a valid exemption.”
The UAE already has strict laws against spreading “rumours” on the internet. During the Middle East war, hundreds of people were arrested for sharing images of attacks.
AFP