The Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has announced a landmark proposal to prohibit children under the age of 16 from accessing prominent social media platforms, including Instagram and TikTok. This initiative marks a significant escalation in European efforts to oversee digital environments.
Speaking on Tuesday at a summit in the United Arab Emirates, Mr Sánchez articulated Madrid’s intention to impose strict age limits to safeguard younger citizens. To facilitate the enforcement of this ban, the Spanish government intends to mandate that technology corporations implement robust age-verification mechanisms.
In a scathing critique of the current digital landscape, the Prime Minister described social networks as having devolved into a “failed state” where legal frameworks are disregarded and criminal activity is frequently overlooked.
“Social networks have become a failed state in which laws are ignored, crimes are tolerated, and where disinformation is worth more than truth,” Mr Sánchez remarked. He further noted that approximately half of all users are subjected to hateful rhetoric and online attacks.
The Spanish announcement aligns with an accelerating international trend toward restricting youth access to digital platforms:
Australia: Recently implemented a ban that has successfully facilitated the removal of an estimated five million accounts.
France: In January, legislators voted to prohibit children under the age of 15 from using applications owned by Meta Platforms Inc. (Facebook and Instagram), ByteDance Ltd. (TikTok), and Snap Inc. (Snapchat).
In a related development, French law enforcement’s cybercrime unit conducted a search of Elon Musk’s X offices in Paris this week. The raid is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged systemic misuse of the platform.
The proposed Spanish legislation seeks to hold technology executives personally accountable for platform violations. Mr Sánchez emphasised that Chief Executive Officers could face criminal liability should they fail to expeditiously remove hateful or illegal content.
“It is time to stop hiding behind code and to cease claiming that technology is neutral,” he declared. The Prime Minister also announced a forthcoming assembly of six European nations committed to surpassing the existing regulatory framework of the European Union.
These European manoeuvres have drawn sharp rebukes from the administration of United States President Donald Trump. Washington has expressed significant disapproval of policies targeting American technology giants, including Alphabet Inc.’s Google, Meta, and Amazon.com Inc.
The United States government recently cautioned that if the European Union continues to “restrict, limit, and deter the competitiveness of U.S. service providers,” it may retaliate by imposing restrictive fees or tariffs on European companies. President Trump has frequently characterised such regulations as “non-tariff barriers” that unfairly disadvantage American firms.
Despite these warnings, the EU has maintained its course. Recent enforcement actions have resulted in fines totalling hundreds of millions of dollars levied against Apple Inc., Meta, and X.
The push for sovereignty over digital spaces was echoed in Germany this week. German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil advocated for more stringent measures against American platforms, arguing that they jeopardise European democracy and consumer interests.
“We must rein in the power of the American platforms,” Mr Klingbeil stated on Monday. “We see monopolistic structures emerging that are not good for democratic discourse and not good for consumer protection.”
