Wire · founder news, decoded · regulatory
United Arab Emirates: Legislation Issued Banning Under-15s from Social Media
UAE issues Resolution 106/2026 banning under-15s from social media with mandatory age verification, restricted accounts for 15-16 year olds, and prohibitions on targeted advertising and data profiling. The rules take effect June 2027 and apply to all platforms operating in or directed at UAE users.
This Wire brief sits within Fusion42's coverage of Social & Community. Wire is Fusion42's founder-focused intelligence feed: each story is connected to the funds and startups it names — every one with a live profile on Raise or Scout — so founders can follow the capital and the momentum behind the headline rather than just the headline itself. Wire analysis is one of the live surfaces Arthur, Fusion42's AI co-founder, reasons over.
The Wire takeaway
If you run a social platform or an age-verification service, you have twelve months to build compliant detection and blocking for under-15s across the UAE—and to prove it works to regulators. The ban on behavioural profiling and targeted ads to minors just became enforceable law in a high-value market; if your ad stack relies on that, you need new logic for MENA users.
Read the full story at lexology.com →
Topics: Social & Community · age-verification · social-media-ban · child-safety · data-profiling-ban · platform-compliance