In 2025, the UAE Government introduced Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on Child Digital Safety, establishing, for the first time, a dedicated legal framework governing children’s protection in digital spaces. The law responds to the growing risks associated with children’s online activity, including exposure to harmful content, cyberbullying, exploitation, and unsafe digital behaviour, and reflects the UAE’s commitment to safeguarding child wellbeing in an increasingly digital society.
Scope and Application of the Law
The Child Digital Safety Law applies to all digital spaces accessible to children in the UAE, including but not limited to websites, mobile applications, social media platforms, online games, streaming services, and messaging tools.
Its core objective is to ensure that digital spaces used by minors are designed and operated in a way that safeguards children from harmful or inappropriate content and online interactions, while promoting responsible digital engagement.
The law establishes a shared responsibility among:
- Digital service providers,
- Parents and guardians, and
- Government and regulatory authorities.
Requiring coordinated efforts to protect children from digital risks.
Key Provisions of the Law focus on:
Protection from Harmful Digital Content
The law prohibits digital content that may negatively affect a child’s physical, psychological, or moral wellbeing.
This includes content that promotes or facilitates:
- Violence or self-harm,
- Sexual exploitation or abuse,
- Hate speech and discrimination,
- Cyberbullying, harassment, or intimidation,
- Other forms of harmful or inappropriate online behaviour.
Platforms are expected to act proactively to prevent children’s exposure to such material.
Obligations of Digital Service Providers
Digital platforms and service providers must implement appropriate technical and organisational safeguards, which may include:
- Age-appropriate access controls and age-verification mechanisms,
- Content moderation and rapid removal systems,
- Reporting and complaint tools accessible to children and parents,
- Measures to prevent unsolicited or harmful contact,
- Internal policies addressing child safety risks.
These obligations apply to both UAE-based and foreign platforms where their services are accessible to children in the UAE.
Protection of Children’s Personal Data
The law places particular emphasis on the protection of children’s personal data. Digital service providers must handle such data with the highest level of care and must not collect, process, or share children’s information in a manner that may harm the child.
These requirements complement existing obligations under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law, reinforcing heightened safeguards for minors in digital spaces.
Role of Parents and Guardians
The law places primary responsibility on parents and guardians as the first line of protection for children in the digital space. As the individuals who grant children access to digital devices, platforms, and online services, parents and guardians are expected to take an active and informed role in safeguarding their children online.
In particular, parents and guardians are expected to:
- Proactively supervise and guide children’s online activities based on the child’s age and maturity,
- Actively use and configure available parental control, privacy, and safety tools,
- Educate children on responsible, respectful, and safe digital behaviour,
- Monitor potential signs of online harm, abuse, or exploitation,
- Promptly report harmful content, suspicious behaviour, or digital risks to platforms or competent authorities.
This approach reflects the law’s clear message that while digital service providers and authorities have legal obligations, child digital safety begins at home, through awareness, supervision, and responsible access management.
Establishment of a National Digital Safety Council
The Decree-Law mandates the establishment of a National Digital Safety Council tasked with:
- Overseeing national child digital safety initiatives,
- Proposing policies and regulatory standards,
- Coordinating between relevant government entities,
- Supporting awareness and prevention programmes.
Further details regarding the Council’s powers and regulatory role are expected to be clarified through executive regulations.
Relationship with Existing UAE Laws
The Child Digital Safety Law operates alongside and complements several key UAE federal laws that collectively regulate online conduct, data protection, and child welfare, including:
- The UAE Cybercrime Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021 on Combatting Rumors and Cybercrimes), which criminalises a wide range of unlawful online activities, including cyberbullying, harassment, exploitation, and the misuse of electronic platforms;
- Child Protection legislation (Federal Law No. 3 of 2016, as amended, commonly known as Wadeema’s Law), which establishes overarching protections for children against abuse, neglect, and exploitation, both offline and online;
- The UAE Personal Data Protection Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021), which regulates the collection, processing, and protection of personal data, with heightened safeguards applicable to children’s data.
Together, these laws form an integrated legal framework. While the Cybercrime Law addresses prohibited online conduct and criminal liability, and data protection legislation governs the handling of personal information, the Child Digital Safety Law specifically focuses on preventive obligations, platform responsibility, and systemic child protection measures within digital spaces.
Enforcement, Penalties, and Compliance
While the Decree-Law establishes the core legal obligations, detailed enforcement mechanisms and penalties will be set out in forthcoming executive regulations.
These are expected to address matters such as:
- Administrative fines for non-compliance,
- Orders to remove or block harmful content
- Regulatory measures against repeat or serious violations,
- Compliance monitoring and investigative powers of authorities.
Digital service providers should closely monitor the issuance of these regulations and prepare for compliance accordingly.
Why the Law was introduced
Children increasingly rely on digital platforms for education, communication, entertainment, and social interaction. While digital technology offers significant benefits, it also exposes children to heightened risks, including:
- Exposure to harmful or age-inappropriate content such as violent material, explicit content, self-harm promotion, or extremist ideologies, which may negatively affect a child’s psychological and emotional development.
- Online exploitation and grooming where children may be targeted by adults or organised networks seeking to manipulate, coerce, or exploit them through digital platforms, games, or social media.
- Cyberbullying and online harassment including repeated abuse, threats, humiliation, or exclusion carried out through messaging apps, social networks, or gaming environments, often with serious mental health consequences.
- Misuse of personal data and privacy violations where children’s personal information may be collected, shared, or exploited without proper safeguards, exposing them to identity misuse, profiling, or commercial exploitation.
- Excessive screen time and digital dependency which may impact children’s physical health, academic performance, social development, and overall wellbeing.
These risks highlight the need for a dedicated legal framework that goes beyond general cybercrime regulation and places child protection at the centre of digital governance.
The UAE introduced this law to:
- Prevent online abuse, exploitation, and harassment,
- Reduce exposure to harmful digital content,
- Promote safe and age-appropriate online environments,
- Align national legislation with international child protection standards.
Who is Affected by the Law
- Digital Service Providers
All entities operating digital services that are accessible in the UAE are subject to the law’s requirements. This includes social media platforms, online gaming providers, content-sharing websites, communication and messaging services, streaming platforms, and any digital space where children may be present.
The law applies not only to UAE-based companies, but also to foreign platforms that make their services available to users in the UAE, reflecting the government’s intent to ensure comprehensive protection for children regardless of where a service provider is headquartered.
- Parents and Guardians
Parents and guardians are a central focus of the law. As the gatekeepers of children’s access to digital technology, they are expected to actively participate in ensuring safe online behaviour, supervise usage, apply protective tools, and intervene when risks arise.
The law sends a clear message that parental involvement is not optional, but a core component of the national child digital safety framework.
- Government and Regulatory Authorities
Competent government entities are empowered to monitor compliance, investigate violations, issue corrective measures, and take enforcement action where children’s safety is at risk. Authorities are also responsible for coordinating policy, awareness initiatives, and regulatory oversight through designated bodies and councils.
What Businesses should do now
In anticipation of executive regulations, digital service providers should:
- Review whether their services are accessible to children in the UAE,
- Assess existing content moderation and reporting systems,
- Evaluate data protection practices relating to minors,
- Prepare internal compliance and response procedures,
- Monitor regulatory updates and guidance issued by authorities.
Proactive compliance planning will be essential to mitigate regulatory and reputational risk.
Broader Context and International Comparison
The introduction of the Child Digital Safety Law aligns the UAE with a growing global movement to regulate online environments affecting children. Similar initiatives can be seen in other jurisdictions, such as enhanced online safety obligations in the European Union, stricter child protection standards for digital platforms in the United Kingdom, and increased regulatory scrutiny of social media and gaming services in other advanced economies.
What distinguishes the UAE’s approach is the early, proactive nature of the intervention. Rather than reacting to isolated incidents, the law reflects a strategic policy choice to address digital risks systematically, before they escalate into widespread societal harm.
Why the UAE acted now
Several factors have contributed to the timing of this legislation:
- The rapid increase in children’s use of digital platforms for education, entertainment, and social interaction,
- Growing global concern over online exploitation, cyberbullying, harmful content, and digital addiction,
- Advances in technology that expose children to risks at younger ages,
- The UAE’s broader national strategy focused on social wellbeing, family stability, and future generations.
By acting now, the UAE signals that child digital safety is not a secondary issue, but a national priority requiring clear legal standards and coordinated enforcement.
Message to Residents, Businesses, and the Public
This law sends a strong and unambiguous message:
- Children’s safety in digital spaces is a shared societal responsibility,
- Digital platforms are expected to operate responsibly and proactively,
- Parents and guardians must actively manage and supervise children’s online access,
- The government is prepared to regulate, enforce, and intervene where necessary to protect minors.
The seriousness of the government’s approach is reflected in the establishment of dedicated oversight mechanisms, forthcoming enforcement regulations, and the integration of this law within the wider UAE legal framework on cybercrime, data protection, and child welfare.
Conclusion
Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025 on Child Digital Safety represents a decisive step by the UAE to address the realities of modern digital life. By setting clear expectations for families, digital service providers, and regulators, the law reinforces the UAE’s commitment to protecting children and ensuring that technological progress does not come at the expense of child wellbeing. As implementation measures are rolled out, affected parties should remain vigilant, informed, and proactive in meeting their obligations and supporting a safer digital space for children.