An Abu Dhabi court has ruled a divorced couple must stop posting content involving their children on social media.
The ruling by the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court came after a father took legal action against the mother of his children – his ex-wife – to prevent her from using their two daughters in social media content, including commercial, promotional or advertising material.
However, the judge ruled that both parents had failed in their obligation to protect their children's privacy and welfare. The court found that both parents were posting pictures of their children online, which was not in the children's best interests, regardless of whether the posts were monetised.
The court ordered both parents to refrain from publishing photographs or personal information relating to the children on social media platforms and to delete content that harms their best interests.
Protecting children's interests
“What makes this ruling interesting is that it doesn’t just go after the influencer with the sponsorship deals,” said Byron James, partner and head of the UAE office at Expatriate Law, who represented the father in the case.
“The court was thinking about the children, their privacy and their well-being, and on that basis it told both parents to stop.
“That means the principle reaches the everyday family photo just as much as the paid one. The school sports day picture and the shampoo ad are closer cousins than people assume.”
The court made its ruling based on the country's Child Rights Law, formerly known as Wadeema's Law, which protects children from exploitation and guarantees their right to privacy and reputation.
Cash for content
Mr James said commercial content involving children raises additional legal questions.
“The money does change things, though,” he said. “The moment a child is in a paid post, it stops being only about privacy and starts looking a lot like work, with the child as the one earning.
“That brings in a whole extra layer of rules, including the UAE’s licensing system for paid content. A parent sharing a snap with their followers raises one question. A parent earning from their child’s face raises that question and a stack of others on top.”
He said the wider debate extends beyond influencers and celebrity families.
“A small child cannot really consent to having their life made public, permanent and searchable,” he said. “They don’t understand what it means, and they can’t picture themselves at 16 Googling their own name.
“And when parents split up and disagree about it, neither one gets to make that call alone for the child.”
Mr James said the challenge for courts and politicians was determining where the line should be drawn between private sharing and public exposure.
“‘It’s only my followers’ sounds private and safe,” he said. “But a screenshot travels, a private account gets reshared, and anything online is one search away from being permanent.
“That comfortable little audience is far leakier than it feels. My instinct is that this is exactly where the law, here and everywhere, is heading next: not whether you meant well, but whether the child ever got a say.”
Case ' doesn't set precedent'
However, Diane Hamade, founder and managing partner of Diane Hamade Attorneys at Law, who represented the mother, cautioned against interpreting the ruling as a broader change in UAE law.
“This case is not necessarily the first of its kind or even the ruling since this is a Court of First Instance decision in a family law dispute,” she said. “It did not amend UAE law, establish a binding precedent, or create a new legal principle regarding parents posting their children on social media.”
Ms Hamade said the case was not brought by children seeking protection of their digital rights, nor was it a regulatory action against influencers.
“It is a dispute between two parents, both of whom had social media platforms,” she said. “The father brought the proceedings against the mother, raising concerns regarding the children’s social media exposure, and the court ultimately made orders directed at both parents.”
She said the significance of the judgment lay in the court’s determination of a specific family dispute.
“The significance of the case therefore lies in the court’s determination of a particular family dispute on its facts,” she said. “It should not be interpreted as establishing a general prohibition on parents posting images of their children online, nor as signalling a change in UAE law.”
Ms Hamade said the existing legal framework concerning child welfare and parental responsibility remained unchanged.
“What the court did was apply those existing principles to the specific circumstances before it, aiming at protecting the children’s best interests,” she said.
“The context and merits of the case are a family law-related dispute and the judgment prevents the parents from exposing children inappropriately on social media.”
Ms Hamade added that the custody case involving the children remained pending before the Abu Dhabi Civil Family Court and that family law proceedings were subject to court privacy rules.
