From screen time limits to concerns over harmful online content, parenting conversations in the UAE are increasingly becoming digital.
That conversation took centre stage in Dubai on Monday, May 18, as Meta and Creators HQ launched a regional initiative focused on teen safety, digital wellbeing, and healthier social media habits for families across the region.
The initiative, introduced during an event at Creators HQ in Emirates Towers, aligns with the UAE’s “Year of the Family 2026” and aims to help parents, schools, creators, and communities navigate the growing challenges tied to teen life online.
Speaking during the event, Alia Al Hammadi, Vice Chairperson of the UAE Government Media Office, said online wellbeing has become an important part of family life today.
“In today’s world, the safety of the family is not just important, but the digital experience of families is important as well,” she said. “Having a healthier or safer online presence is a very important subject that we need to talk to our children about.”
She added that platforms, creators, and institutions now share responsibility in helping families create healthier online environments for younger users.
“We call on all our content creators; they have a great responsibility here to educate, to create positive content for families and parents,” she said.
At the centre of the discussion was Instagram’s “Teen Accounts”, a feature designed specifically for younger users with built-in safety protections and parental supervision tools.
The system automatically places teens into stricter privacy and content settings, limiting who can contact them and the type of content they are shown. Teens under 16 require parental permission to relax certain settings.
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Features include private-by-default accounts, screen-time reminders, sleep mode notifications and stricter content filtering designed around age-appropriate experiences.
Nadia Diab Caceres, Head of Instagram and Threads Public Policy for Africa, the Middle East and Turkey, described Teen Accounts as “a new experience for teens, guided by parents.”
One of the more notable discussions during the event focused on how teenagers emotionally interact with social media and why platforms are trying to balance safety with independence.
Caceres explained that Teen Accounts were intentionally designed to resemble the regular Instagram experience because teenagers often reject apps that make them feel younger than they are.
“Teenagers are at an age where they are developing independence,” she said during the session.
She added that the aim is not to fully control teenagers online, but to encourage healthier conversations between parents and children around digital habits and online behaviour.
“We can’t substitute parents,” she said. “What we want is to facilitate parents having those conversations.”
The initiative will also include awareness sessions, educational programmes and discussions around parenting in the digital age, with a focus on privacy, online safety and healthier digital communities.
More than 50 family-focused content creators attended the event, reflecting the growing role influencers and creators now play in shaping conversations around parenting, family life and social media behaviour in the region.
Source: Khaleej Times