Egypt is moving swiftly to tighten controls on children’s use of social media and digital games.
The move comes as governments worldwide confront rising online risks for young people, while Africa continues to lag on child protection frameworks.
Egypt president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has led from the front, urging the government and parliament to consider age-based limits on children’s social media use, arguing that restrictions should remain in place until young users can “manage properly” digital tools.
Equally, prime minister Mostafa Madbouly has revealed that Cairo is finalising legislation that will compel global digital platforms to appoint local legal representatives, making them directly accountable for violations involving harmful content.
“The state is working toward an integrated draft law that sets further controls for children’s use of social media applications and electronic games,” Madbouly said.
He stressed that the process is being coordinated with parliament to ensure that legal loopholes are closed from the beginning.
The proposed framework, presented by deputy prime minister for Human Development Khalid Abdel Ghafar, includes a unified age-classification system, mandatory parental controls and what he called “deterrent penalties” for non-compliant platforms.
Egypt’s minister of social solidarity Maya Morsy said the draft draws on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recommendations and International Telecommunication Union (ITU) principles, stressing that global norms prohibit content that exploits or harms children’s development.
Egypt’s push mirrors actions already taken elsewhere. France has approved legislation banning social media access for children under 15 without parental consent, while Australia passed a landmark law in December 2025 barring under-16s from social platforms and fining companies that fail to enforce age limits.
Yet the ITU paints a worrying picture for Africa. According to the UN agency, only 39 African countries had adopted a national child online protection strategy by 2024.
A further 32% were still drafting policies, while 41% had taken no concrete action, even as internet access across the continent expands rapidly. The ITU notes that globally, one child connects to the internet for the first time every half-second.
As digital adoption accelerates from Cairo to Cape Town, the debate is no longer whether to regulate, but how quickly African states can build enforceable safeguards to protect their youngest users online.
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