Spain Announces Ban on Social Media for Children Under 16 Spain will ban access to social media for children under 16 years old, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced. The move is part of a broader push to hold social media companies accountable for issues like hate speech, illegal content, and social division. Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Prime Minister Sanchez delivered a sharp critique of social media platforms, describing them as a failed state where laws are ignored and crime is endured. He emphasized the urgent need for digital governance, pointing to recent scandals including an AI chatbot generating sexualized images of children, a major platform allegedly spying on Android users, and widespread election interference campaigns. Sanchez stated that given the integral role these platforms play in young people’s lives, the government must take back control to help them. Next week, his administration will enact a series of new regulations, with the under-16 ban being a central component. Social media companies will be mandated to implement effective age verification systems that go beyond simple checkboxes. A specific timeline for enforcing the ban has not yet been provided. The new Spanish laws will also create a criminal offense for the algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content. Furthermore, tech company CEOs will face criminal liability for hateful or illegal content that appears on their platforms. Sanchez also revealed that Spain has formed a coalition with five other unnamed European nations to pursue stricter governance of social media. The Prime Minister argued that children have been exposed to a digital space they were never meant to navigate alone, making government intervention necessary. He added that social media has fallen short of its original promise to be a tool for global understanding and cooperation. Spain joins a growing international trend. Australia implemented a similar under-16 social media ban last year, which has inspired other nations to consider following suit. The United Kingdom is actively debating such a ban, while Denmark and Malaysia have also announced plans for comparable restrictions.
