Digital Child Protection: Is It Time for Legislation in Kuwait? By Dr. Abdulaziz Saud Al-Subaie

Amid the rapid expansion of children’s use of social media, there is growing societal demand for clear legislation to regulate this field, particularly as risks associated with digital addiction, cyberbullying, exploitation, and privacy violations continue to rise. The United Arab Emirates has taken a pioneering step at the Arab level by establishing a minimum age of 15 for using social media, requiring platforms to implement effective age-verification mechanisms and provide additional protections for adolescents. With this measure, the UAE became the first Arab country to adopt a comprehensive regulatory framework for protecting children in the digital space.

In Kuwait, although general laws exist to protect children, there remains a need to establish a more specialized legal framework to address emerging digital challenges, thereby balancing children’s right to benefit from technology with their fundamental right to be protected from its harms.

These calls should not be viewed as advocating for an absolute ban, but rather as efforts to regulate usage and establish safeguards that consider children’s ages and levels of maturity, while strengthening the roles of families, schools, and relevant institutions in building a safe digital culture.

True investment in the future of nations begins with protecting children. In the twenty-first century, child protection no longer extends only to food, education, and healthcare; it now also encompasses shielding children from digital risks that may affect their psychological well-being, intellectual safety, and social development.