UAE's Child Digital Safety Law: A global model for protecting children online

The Child Digital Safety Forum stressed the importance of entrenching the concept of “digital judicial sovereignty” in a manner that reflects the transnational nature of cybercrime and strengthens the protection of children in the digital environment. The forum noted that the law recently issued by the UAE Government on child digital safety represents an advanced legislative model and places clear obligations on digital platforms.

Dr Mohammed Al Kuwaiti, Head of the UAE Government Cybersecurity Council, stated that the UAE ranks first globally in the Cybersecurity Index, identifying four core pillars for protecting children online.

Forum proceedings

The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department concluded the Child Digital Safety Forum, held under the theme “Towards a Safe and Sustainable Digital Environment for Future Generations,” by discussing the institutional and societal dimensions of child protection in cyberspace. This contributes to strengthening institutional integration and raising public awareness of newly introduced legislation, coinciding with the entry into force of Federal Decree-Law No. (26) of 2025 on Child Digital Safety.

The second day of the forum, chaired by Counsellor Hassan Al Hammadi, Director of the Prosecution Administration in Abu Dhabi, via the Abu Dhabi Judicial Academy’s virtual platform, reviewed several themes related to child safety in cyberspace, the roles of government entities and social media platforms, as well as the relevant legal and legislative dimensions.

Cybersecurity and Child Protection

In his working paper titled “Cybersecurity in the Digital Environment and Its Role in Child Protection,”Dr Al Kuwaiti confirmed that the UAE ranks first globally in the cybersecurity index according to the Global Cybersecurity Index, which measures cybersecurity infrastructure based on five pillars: capacity building, technical measures, organisational measures, legal measures, and cooperation.

He explained that UAE cyber-threat statistics for 2024–2025 show that the country fends off more than 200,000 cyberattacks daily, carried out by organised crime groups, hacktivists, state-sponsored actors, in addition to insider threats.

He identified four pillars for protecting children online:

• targeted awareness,

• cybersecurity education,

• national policies, and

• governance of securing gaming platforms.

He added that the UAE has developed an integrated national methodology to ensure children’s safe use of interactive digital platforms, based on strategic partnerships to protect children in cyberspace, future legislative transformations to enhance safe use of social media platforms, and the launch of intensive awareness programmes during the Year of the Family and the Year of the Community. This also includes managing communication and chat features and introducing additional safeguards in games and interactive platforms such as Roblox.

Recommendations

Dr Sami Al Touki, Director of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Academy, presented a package of recommendations, including:

• Holding platforms accountable for proactive safety measures, not only for content after publication;

• Making protection the default setting for children’s accounts, in line with the UAE model;

• Establishing independent national regulatory bodies;

• Enabling the judiciary to interpret laws to ensure the maximum level of child protectionin the digital environment;

• Granting courts the authority to issue binding recommendations to platforms to close technical loopholes;

• Ensuring national courts can hold foreign platforms accountable when they target local users.

At the international level, the recommendations included:

• Updating the Budapest Convention to include explicit obligations on platforms regarding child protection;

• Establishing an independent international organization to set digital safety standards, proposed to be headquartered in Abu Dhabi;

• Creating an International Internet Court specialized in adjudicating disputes between states and digital platforms, also to be hosted in Abu Dhabi;

• Governing artificial intelligence and developing international protocols to ensure the safe and ethical development and use of AI systems for children.

Fully aligned with global standards

Dr Fatima Al Kaabi, Vice Chairperson of the National Human Rights Authority, confirmed that Federal Decree-Law No. (26) of 2025 on Child Digital Safety fully aligns with international and regional standards. It embodies the principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its protocols within a modern legal framework, aligns with UNICEF guidelines and the practices of leading countries through binding and advanced implementation mechanisms, and represents a landmark legislative precedent.

At the Arab and regional levels, no other Arab state has previously enacted a specialized and comprehensive law addressing child safety in the digital space with this level of detail and scope. Globally, the UAE law belongs to the new generation of “digital safety” legislation that has emerged in recent years, yet it stands out through several pioneering features, including the explicit obligation to provide technical parental-control tools and the criminalisation of emerging practices such as the “passive exploitation of children via platforms,” which includes parents’ misuse of their children’s images or personal information online.

Protecting children in cyberspace

Dr Al Kuwaiti emphasised that protecting children in cyberspace is among the most critical priorities in light of rapid technological developments. He stressed the need to continue raising awareness among society and institutions to ensure optimal use of cyberspace and to strengthen the integration of the digital ecosystem and infrastructure for which the UAE is renowned as one of the most cyber-ready nations, thanks to its advanced infrastructure and proactive, future-oriented vision. He also noted that the council has launched several initiatives, training programmes, and campaigns that have enhanced digital literacy and empowered future generations to confront digital challenges.

UNICEF: 175,000 children go online for the first time every day

UNICEF statistics indicate that more than 175,000 children worldwide use the internet for the first time every day — equivalent to one new child every half second. While the digital space offers educational and communication benefits, it also exposes children to a wide range of risks, including:

• harmful content,

• sexual exploitation,

• cyberbullying, and

• violations of their data privacy.

Applicability of Law No. (26) of 2025 to Internet Service Providers and Digital Platforms

Recognising the pivotal role played by digital platforms and internet service providers, and the responsibilities they bear in protecting children, the UAE federal legislator stipulated that the provisions of Federal Decree-Law No. (26) of 2025 on Child Digital Safety apply to all such entities.

Under Article (3) titled “Scope of Application of the Decree-Law,” the law applies to:

a. Internet service providers and digital platforms operating within the State or targeting users in the State, whether legal or natural persons, and whether public or private sector entities, whenever children’s use of digital platforms or their exposure to the content or services thereof is involved.

b. Digital platforms include, without limitation:

• websites;

• search engines;

• smart applications, messaging apps and forums;

• electronic gaming platforms;

• social media platforms;

• live-streaming platforms;

• audio content platforms (podcasts);

• streaming services and on-demand visual content platforms; and

• e-commerce platforms.

• More than 200,000 cyberattacks are thwarted daily in the UAE, perpetrated by organized crime groups, hackers, state-backed entities, in addition to insider threats.