Internet & Online Safety · UAE
Internet & Online Safety - UAE
The UAE regulates online content and safety through a layered but fragmented set of federal laws and administrative regimes rather than a single comprehensive online-safety act. The Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority (TDRA) mandates ISP-level filtering of broadly defined prohibited content — including unlicensed VoIP, gambling, pornography, LGBTQ+ material, and content deemed contrary to public morality or national security — with criminal liability for circumvention via VPNs. A landmark Child Digital Safety Law (Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025), effective 1 January 2026, introduces DSA-adjacent obligations on platforms and ISPs including risk-proportionate age verification, default privacy for children, and parental-consent requirements for under-13 data processing, with a one-year compliance window.
The TDRA defines categories of prohibited content — including illegal VoIP, gambling, pornography, proxy/VPN services enabling prohibited-content access, and material offensive to Islam or national security — and requires all licensed ISPs (Etisalat/e&, du) to block such content at network level using DNS filtering, IP blocking, URL filtering, and deep-packet inspection.
Federal Decree-Law No. 34 of 2021, in force from 2 January 2022, criminalises a wide range of online conduct including spreading false information damaging to national security or public order, hacking, identity theft, and using VPNs to access prohibited content; penalties reach AED 2 million in fines and custodial sentences.
Federal Decree-Law No. 26 of 2025, issued 1 October 2025 and in force 1 January 2026, imposes risk-proportionate age-verification obligations on digital platforms and ISPs, prohibits collection or processing of children's (under 13) data without verifiable parental consent, mandates default privacy settings and parental controls, and bans targeted advertising to children. It has extraterritorial reach covering foreign platforms targeting UAE users.
Federal Decree-Law No. 55 of 2023 and Cabinet Resolution No. 42 of 2025 require all content creators and advertisers — paid or unpaid — to hold a UAE Media Council Advertiser Permit (mandatory from 1 February 2026) and a commercial licence; 20 published content standards govern what media organisations and influencers may publish, with fines up to AED 1 million for violations.
Consumer VoIP services (WhatsApp calls, FaceTime, Skype) remain blocked unless licensed by TDRA; approved licensed alternatives include Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Botim, and Cisco Webex. UAE law treats digital intermediaries as liable custodians responsible for proactive prevention of prohibited content, with no broad safe-harbour equivalent to EU e-Commerce Directive Article 14.
Unlike the EU Digital Services Act or UK Online Safety Act, the UAE has no single cross-cutting platform-accountability law covering algorithmic transparency, risk assessments, or systemic-harm duties for general-purpose platforms; regulation remains distributed across sector-specific instruments (cybercrime, child safety, media, telecoms) administered by different authorities (TDRA, UAE Media Council, courts).
Machine-assisted translation · verified 5/24/2026 · orientation, not legal advice. English version →