Spain to prohibit children under 16 to use social networks

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the government will restrict access to social networks for children under the age of 16 and tighten control over digital platforms that do not remove hate speech content. He made this statement at the World Government Summit in Dubai, which brought together leaders from more than 30 countries.

 The administration will introduce the reforms next week. The document will include five measures, including the fines for platform managers for violating the law and a ban on of profiles on social networks by minors under the age of 16.

Manipulating algorithms and distributing illegal content will also be classified as crimes. In addition, the state will introduce a system for tracking and analysing the spread of radical content that incites hatred on social networks. Together with the Attorney General's Office, the authorities will investigate possible violations by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.

“Social networks have become a failed state where laws are ignored, and crimes are tolerated. It's time to stop hiding behind code and claiming that technology is neutral,” Sanchez said.

According to a source at 20minutos in the Ministry of Youth and Children, the law prohibiting children under the age of 16 from registering on social media has already received significant approval among all parliamentary groups. Minors younger than this age who wish to register on social media will have to obtain the consent of their parents or legal guardians.

According to the source, the bill requires multinational technology companies to implement free parental controls by default on all devices so that parents can restrict and control their children's access to services, applications, and content. “These settings should be activated when the device is initially set up,” the source said.