• Family First unveils preliminary findings from world’s first global intergenerational study of a social media ban for under-16s in 15 countries
• 63% of UAE parents back a social media ban for under-16s, with support highest in Malaysia (77%) and India (75%), and lowest in Japan (38%) and Nigeria (39%)
• Data reveals generational divide: 45% of UAE children support a ban – an 18-point gap compared to parents. Worldwide, support for a ban among children is also highest in Malaysia, India (both 62%), and China (50%), and lowest in Japan (20%), Argentina, and Sweden (both 26%)
• In the UAE, 67% of Gen Z – the first true digital natives – support a social media ban for under-16s – the second highest globally after India (73%). Support for the ban is lowest in Japan (28%), UK and Canada (both 40%)

Following Australia’s first-of-its-kind ban on social media for under-16s, and with more than two dozen countries considering similar measures, new global research from Family First, a Varkey Foundation initiative, shows that 63% of UAE parents support a social media ban for under-16s in their country. However, children are more divided: 45% of 9- to 18-year-olds in the UAE back a ban, while 33% are against it, and 22% are undecided. Strikingly, a large majority of Gen Z respondents in the UAE (67%) support banning social media for under-16s, the second highest after India (73%). This is particularly noteworthy given they are the first generation to have grown up with social media from childhood.