DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced a social media ban for children under 15 on Thursday, joining a growing group of countries, including Australia, Britain and Canada, that have taken similar measures. Social media platforms will have to monitor and disable accounts created by under-15s or risk being blocked, a cabinet resolution said, giving them a 12-month transition period. &quot;The resolution sets the minimum age for social media use at 15 years,&quot; the official WAM news agency said, citing the cabinet resolution. &quot;Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms.&quot; They are also barred from &quot;accessing the full features of such platforms, including social interaction, publishing, commenting, sharing, joining public groups, open channels, or any large-scale interactive spaces,&quot; it said. After Australia began a world-first social media bar for under-16s in December, a number of countries have followed suit, including Britain, which announced a ban this week. The UAE&#39;s bodies controlling media and telecommunications have &quot;authority to take all necessary measures (against social media platforms) in the event of non-compliance,&quot; WAM said. These include &quot;warning or partial or full blocking of platforms or the imposition of applicable administrative penalties.&quot;

Children looking at a tablet device indoors (Photo by Garakta-Studio/Envato) 

Middle East

'Children below this age are prohibited from creating, using, or operating personal accounts on social media platforms,' the official WAM news agency said, citing a cabinet resolution.

Articles tagged with "Under 15"

UAE announces social media ban for under-15s: Official news agency

UAE announces social media ban for under-15s: Official news agency