Spain is taking a bold step towards safeguarding its younger generation by planning to restrict access to social media platforms for those under 16 years old. In a recent announcement, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declared that social media companies will be mandated to implement age-verification systems to enforce this new regulation.

The Spanish government, led by Sánchez’s left-wing coalition, has consistently voiced concerns about the impact of social media on youth. They argue that the rampant spread of hate speech, pornography, and misinformation is having detrimental effects on young people.

Addressing the World Government Summit in Dubai, Sánchez stated, “Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone… We will no longer accept that.” He urged other European nations to follow suit and take similar protective measures.

Sánchez emphasized the need to shield children from what he termed the “digital Wild West.” This move by Spain mirrors a similar initiative by Australia. In December, Australia became the first nation to prohibit social media access for children under 16, setting a precedent closely monitored by countries like the United Kingdom and France, who are considering similar restrictions.

Spain has now aligned itself with five other European nations, forming what Sánchez described as the “coalition of the digitally willing.” This coalition aims to coordinate and enforce cross-border regulations to better manage digital content and its accessibility among the youth.

Sánchez said Spain had joined five other European countries that he dubbed the “coalition of the digitally willing” to coordinate and enforce cross-border regulation.

The coalition will hold its first meeting in the coming days, he said. Sánchez did not say which countries were in the group, and his office didn’t immediately respond to a request for clarification.

“We know that this is a battle that far exceeds the boundaries of any country,” he said.

Spain will also introduce a bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hate-speech content, as well as to criminalise algorithmic manipulation and the amplification of illegal content, Sánchez said.

Among the measures he proposed was a system to track hate speech online, while platforms would be required to introduce age verification systems that “were not just check boxes”, he said.

His government would begin the process of passing legislation as early as next week, he said.

He added that prosecutors would explore ways to investigate possible legal infractions by Elon Musk’s Grok, TikTok and Instagram.

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