Spain to Bar Social Media Use for Kids
Addressing the World Government Summit in Dubai, Sanchez said his government would roll out five new measures aimed at regulating digital platforms, warning that the changes would have far-reaching implications for online expression.
“First, we will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for many infringements taking place on their sites,” he said. Under the proposal, company leaders who fail to remove “criminal or hateful content” could face criminal prosecution.
In many countries, social media companies are treated as neutral platforms rather than publishers, leaving responsibility for posted material with individual users. Sanchez’s proposal would go further than existing European Union rules, which allow for financial penalties against platforms that fail to take down “disinformation” once it has been flagged.
Sanchez did not clarify how “hateful content” would be defined, while current EU legislation similarly does not spell out what qualifies as “disinformation.”
Beyond executive liability, Sanchez said the government plans to criminalize “algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content,” closely monitor and analyze “how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate,” prohibit social media use by anyone under 16, and open criminal investigations into alleged wrongdoing involving Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.
During his remarks, Sanchez directly criticized X owner Elon Musk, accusing him of spreading “disinformation” related to the government’s recent decision to grant amnesty to around half a million undocumented migrants. Days earlier, Musk had accused Spanish lawmaker Irene Montero of “advocating genocide” after she called for a “replacement of right-wingers” by migrants.
Sanchez added that five other European nations—described by him as a “coalition of the digitally willing”—are preparing to introduce comparable legislation.
Elsewhere in Europe, France has already adopted a more limited law barring children under 15 from social media, while Greece is reportedly close to announcing similar restrictions, according to reports.
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