Experts have said the UAE government’s new digital safety law is a step in the right direction to better online safety for children.
The federal decree law establishes a national Child Digital Safety Council, to be governed by the Ministry of Family, and applies to internet service providers and digital platforms, whether operating within or targeting users in the UAE.
It also applies to anyone responsible for the care of children, including parents, redefining obligations regarding digital safety. The new law will be enforced through measures including age verification, content filtering, parental controls and restrictions on advertising aimed at minors.
It is especially relevant with today’s proliferation of AI-generated content, according to Eliad Kimhy, senior security researcher at cybersecurity and data protection software company Acronis.
“From a technology perspective, the sheer volume and velocity of digitally generated material introduces new risks around misinformation, manipulation and exposure to unsuitable material, particularly for younger users who may lack the tools to critically assess what they are seeing,” he said.
This is where structural change and robust regulations come in, but it is not about policies alone, Mr Kimhy added. “Parents still play a crucial role. It is important for them to understand where and how their children are being exposed to digital content, to educate themselves on the potential risks and to maintain open, continuing conversations about what their children are seeing and learning online.”
This redefines parental responsibility as legal obligation, said Rafal Hyps, chief executive at risk management firm Sicuro Group. “[This] fundamentally changes our role from adviser to enforcer in our child’s digital life.”
What will change with the new law?
The Child Digital Safety Council will propose policy, legislation and strategies to ensure much safer default experiences for children online. It requires internet service providers of all types, from search engines to social media and online gaming, to adhere to new regulations, regardless of where the platforms are hosted.
“Every household should now consider digital safety tools as essential as locks on their doors,” said Mahmood Ahmed, chief technology officer at Media One Hotel.
Morey Haber, chief security adviser at security solutions BeyondTrust, said: “If it is available in the UAE, providers must align operations with regulations or face enforcement consequences, fines or removal from the market altogether.”
What this means in practice is that consumers will experience “more friction” when accessing platforms, said Mr Hyps. “Children under 13 will be effectively locked out of most data-collecting platforms unless those platforms serve educations or health purposes, which represents a significant shift from the current largely unrestricted access.”
As digital supervision becomes a legal responsibility, rather than a personal choice, families will need to invest time in understanding new verification processes and managing digital access points across multiple devices, said Mr Hyps. “The law also places accountability on internet service providers to offer and potentially enforce parental control tools, creating a shared responsibility ecosystem.”
Mr Ahmed said children may feel restricted by these changes at first, but that the “limitations serve a higher purpose”. “Children also need to be made aware of their digital rights and taught how to exercise them responsibly,” he added.
What do the parents say?
Sumit Augustine, who has a nine-year-old son, welcomes the new law. “Today’s children are very tech savvy compared to my generation or my parents' generation, so it is always good to teach them young the pros and cons of surfing the internet so that they understand their boundaries and limitations of sharing information,” she said.
She looks to Australia, where social media access for children younger than 16 is banned, as a benchmark. “I think [it] is a very good move because young teenagers are to be gaining their knowledge of information from credible sources rather than jumping on the bandwagon of social media trends, some of which may not be safe for them.”
Sonal Chiber, who has two children, agreed. “I believe this is a very progressive and much-needed move by the UAE,” she told The National. “This law shows strong leadership and foresight by putting children’s well-being at the centre of the country’s digital future.
“I appreciate that it creates a clear framework of responsibility for digital platforms, service providers and caregivers, and reinforces the importance of building a safer online ecosystem for families.”
Ms Chiber said the law reinforces the need for parents to be more conscious, present and informed about their children’s digital lives. “For me, it means being more intentional about setting healthy boundaries, reviewing the platforms and content they use, and having regular, open conversations about responsible online behaviour.
“I also plan to make better use of parental control tools and ensure that technology is used in a balanced way, as a positive learning resource rather than passive screen time.”
How will platforms respond?
“Smaller players will need to weigh compliance costs against market size and some will choose to exit rather than invest in the necessary technical and legal infrastructure,” said Mr Hyps.
Some platforms may also choose to restrict certain features or content types in the UAE market rather than face higher regulatory scrutiny, he added. “The speed and quality of platform responses will largely depend on how enforcement is structured and whether penalties are substantial enough to drive genuine compliance rather than cosmetic changes.”
From a consumer perspective, platforms may introduce UAE-specific age verification mechanisms, possibly using government-backed digital identity systems or third-party verification services, he added.
The platform categorisation system will have the most significant effect, “as it creates risk-based tiers that determine how heavily each platform is regulated”, said Mr Hyps. “This is the core enforcement mechanism and everything else flows from how platforms get classified, making it the lever of the entire regulatory framework.”
The tiered approach allows authorities to focus on higher-risk platforms, enabling lower-risk educational and developmental platforms to operate with “less friction”, he said.
“This approach also provides regulators with flexibility to adapt classifications as platforms evolve or new services emerge, making the law more futureproof.”
How parents should respond
“Protecting children online can’t sit with one group alone,” said Samer El Kodsi, regional vice president of sales for multinational cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks. “It requires collaboration between regulators, technology providers, schools and parents, supported by practical security measures and education.”
The goal is not to create fear around technology but to build digital literacy and critical thinking that children will foster for the rest of their lives, said Mr Hyps.
“What children do online matters more than how much time they spend there, yet most parents focus exclusively on screen-time limits rather than content quality and interaction patterns,” he said.
Mr Hyps advised parents to talk regularly with their children about their online experiences, to monitor their usage, stay informed of youth digital culture trends and to better understand motives behind wanting to watch or engage with specific content.
Guardians and educators must also teach children to recognise manipulation, grooming behaviours and misinformation, as well as create a “no punishment” policy for reporting concerning interactions.
“Remember that your own phone habits shape theirs more powerfully than any rule or restriction you implement, making parental modelling the foundation of healthy digital behaviour,” said Mr Hyps.
Mr Ahmed strongly encourages people to “embrace this shift and focus on communicating the positives to children”.
“In my experience, when children are made responsible, they often take digital rules more seriously than adults,” he added. “Involve them in the process. Make them part of the conversation about internet safety – not just subjects of it.”
