The UAE government has issued a Federal Decree-Law concerning child digital safety, which introduces a comprehensive legislative framework to protect children from online risks and encourage the responsible use of safe and age-appropriate digital content.
The legislation on child digital safety aligns with the UAE’s declaration of 2026 as the Year of Family and supports its vision to enhance children’s quality of life across all environments.
It safeguards children from harmful digital content and practices while defining clear, coordinated oversight to protect their rights across the digital ecosystem.
The decree-law applies to internet service providers and digital platforms, whether operating within the UAE or targeting users within the UAE.
Digital platforms covered by the decree-law include websites, search engines, smart applications, messaging applications, forums, online gaming platforms, social media platforms, live streaming platforms, podcast platforms, streaming services, online video-on-demand platforms, and e-commerce platforms. The decree-law also applies to those responsible for the care of children and defines their obligations regarding the digital safety of the children under their care.
Additionally, the decree-law establishes the ‘Child Digital Safety Council‘ in the UAE, chaired by the Minister of Family, as an advisory and coordinating body to achieve integration between federal and local entities and the private sector regarding efforts to ensure children’s digital safety.
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Child Digital Safety Council functions
The decree-law also defines the child digital safety council’s functions, which include:
Propose policies, legislation, and strategies to ensure the highest levels of child digital safety
Develop a comprehensive digital safety awareness campaign
Conduct studies to monitor emerging digital risks amid rapid technological change
Issued by a decision taken by the UAE Cabinet following approval from the Education, Human Development, and Community Development Council, the Decree-Law establishes a system for classifying all digital platforms operating in or targeting users in the UAE based on their risks and impact on children.
This system serves as a reference framework, setting regulatory standards according to platform type, content, usage volume, and impact, and defining age-based controls and restrictions on platform use by children.
Child digital safety regulations
The Decree-Law on child digital safety prohibits digital platforms from collecting, processing, publishing, or sharing the personal data of children under the age of 13, except under specific conditions. It also allows limited exemptions for platforms used for educational or health purposes, subject to a UAE Cabinet resolution and strict measures to protect children’s safety and privacy.
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The child digital safety legislation outlines a range of obligations for digital platforms to protect children from harmful online content. These include implementing default privacy settings, introducing age verification and age-restriction tools, activating content blocking, filtering, and age-rating mechanisms, and regulating targeted online advertising.
The law further prohibits digital platforms from allowing children to participate in, create accounts for, or access online commercial games involving gambling or monetary betting activities.
Internet service providers are required to activate content-filtering systems to support compliance with policies restricting harmful content and to ensure the safe and supervised use of internet services and electronic devices by children. This includes requiring guardians to approve terms of service and the use of parental control tools.
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The Decree-Law also sets out responsibilities for child caregivers, including monitoring children’s digital activities, using parental controls to ensure safe use, and refraining from creating accounts on platforms that are not age-appropriate or do not meet enhanced child protection standards.
The Ministry of Family, along with relevant local child affairs authorities, will develop programmes and mechanisms to ensure compliance with the Decree-Law and its implementing regulations, including systems for reporting harmful content and enabling swift action against online abuse or child exploitation.
