Spain has proposed banning children under the age of 16 from using social media, adding to a growing international effort to shield minors from online harms.
The move places Spain among a widening group of countries seeking stricter controls on digital platforms amid concerns over safety, misinformation, and illegal content.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the proposal on Tuesday while speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai. In his address, he accused major technology companies of failing to adequately curb disinformation and illegal material, including child sexual abuse content and sexualized deepfake images circulating on their platforms.
“Social media has become a failed state, a place where laws are ignored, and crime is endured, where disinformation is worth more than truth, and half of users suffer hate speech,” Sánchez said.
“A failed state in which algorithms distort the public conversation and our data and image are defied and sold.”
“Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone,” he added.
“We will no longer accept that.”
The proposed ban will require approval from Spain’s parliament and could be debated as early as next week, Sánchez said. It forms part of a broader package of five government measures aimed at regulating social media platforms.
He also announced that Spain has joined five other European nations in forming what he called a “coalition of the digitally willing,” intended to coordinate cross-border regulation of social media, though the other member countries have not yet been disclosed.
Around the world, several governments have already introduced or are weighing similar restrictions on children’s access to social media. Greece is expected to announce its own ban soon, according to an official source cited by Reuters, while French lawmakers approved comparable legislation last week, sending the bill to the Senate.
In December, Australia became the first country globally to introduce a blanket ban on social media access for users under 16.
“No more pretending that technology is neutral,” Sánchez said.
Spain’s proposal would require social media companies to implement robust age-verification systems. Sánchez emphasized that these would be “not just check boxes, but real barriers that work.”
Most major social media platforms currently set a minimum age of 13 for account creation, though enforcement has historically been weak and inconsistent.
The Spanish government has not yet specified which platforms would fall under the ban. During his speech, Sánchez singled out X over its AI chatbot Grok, which has faced international scrutiny for generating illegal sexual content, including involving minors.
He also criticized TikTok for allegedly allowing accounts to share “AI-generated child abuse materials,” and Instagram for allegedly “spying on millions of Android users.”
TIME said it has contacted TikTok, xAI, and Meta for comment.
Sánchez also said Spain intends to criminalize the manipulation of algorithms used to amplify illegal content and to hold technology executives personally accountable if such content is not removed. These measures would also require parliamentary approval.
According to Sánchez, the proposed ban will be debated alongside a broader bill focused on strengthening digital protections for minors. Spain’s main opposition party, the center-right People’s Party, has indicated support for the measure, the Associated Press reported. Spanish media have previously reported that the party had floated similar proposals.
However, the legislation may still face resistance. The far-right Vox party has criticized the proposal, arguing that it is designed to ensure that “no one criticizes” the Sánchez government, according to the AP.
Elsewhere in Europe, France last week approved legislation that would ban social media use for children under 15, citing concerns about excessive screen time, cyberbullying, and related harms. The bill, which includes stricter age-verification requirements and tighter rules on mobile phone use in schools, is expected to take effect in September, pending Senate approval.
Australia’s under-16 social media ban, introduced in December, has been described as the first of its kind worldwide. It applies to platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Threads, Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube, X, Reddit, Twitch, and Kick, though the list may be revised over time.
In Southeast Asia, Malaysia announced last year that it planned to introduce a similar ban for under-16s starting in January, though implementation has since been delayed until July. The country temporarily banned X’s Grok chatbot over concerns about sexualized images and passed legislation requiring social media platforms with more than eight million local users to operate under government-issued licenses.
In the United States, lawmakers at both state and federal levels have pursued related measures. During the 2025 state legislative session, 18 states proposed bills addressing minors’ social media use, though only one became law. Nebraska passed legislation requiring parental consent for anyone under 18 to create a social media account, set to take effect in July. Virginia enacted a law limiting social media use to one hour per day for users under 16 unless parents approve, which came into force in January. States including California and New York have also enacted bans on so-called “addictive algorithms.”
At the federal level, Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii introduced the Kids Off Social Media Act, which would bar children under 13 nationwide from accessing social media and restrict certain algorithmic practices for users under 17. The bill was approved by the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee last June and is awaiting a full Senate vote.
The proposed bans have drawn sharp criticism from some technology leaders. Elon Musk, owner of X, responded to Sánchez’s remarks in Dubai by posting on his platform, “Dirty Sánchez is a tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain.”
In a separate post, Musk wrote, “Sánchez is the true fascist totalitarian.”
Other technology companies have also raised concerns about blanket bans, though most affected by Australia’s law, including X, said they planned to comply. Reddit filed a lawsuit against the Australian government in December, arguing that the ban threatens free speech and undermines political discussion. Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook, and Threads, said it had removed nearly 550,000 accounts in Australia by January under its updated age-verification rules.
“We call on the Australian government,” Meta said in a blog post, “to engage with industry constructively to find a better way forward, such as incentivising all of industry to raise the standard in providing safe, privacy-preserving, age-appropriate experiences online, instead of blanket bans.”
