Spain plans to prohibit social media use for under-16s

Spain will prohibit social media use for under-16s, PM Pedro Sánchez announced on Tuesday.

The initiative, which follows similar measures adopted in France, aims to "protect minors and strengthen control over social media."

It will require digital platforms to implement "effective age-verification systems" and take stronger action to prevent abuse.

Sánchez said the initiative is intended to create a "safe, democratic and respectful social media environment that upholds fundamental rights."

"Social media have become a failed state, where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated, where misinformation is more valuable than truth and where half of users suffer hate speech," the PM said while speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

The new law will also classify the manipulation of algorithms and the amplification of illegal content as criminal offences.

Sánchez said it is time to "take back control to protect users" and ensure that platforms "comply with the law like everyone else."

The measure also seeks to end what Sánchez described as the "impunity" enjoyed by platform executives by making them legally responsible for violations committed on their services if illegal content or hate speech is not removed.

In this context, he recalled that TikTok has been accused of tolerating malicious accounts that share AI-generated child sexual abuse material, and that Elon Musk uses his account on X to "amplify misinformation."

He also noted that Instagram has been accused of spying on users and that Facebook has been accused of launching misinformation campaigns during elections.