Spain to ban social media access for children under 16

DCM Editorial Summary: This story has been independently rewritten and summarised for DCM readers to highlight key developments relevant to the region. Original reporting by Irish Times, click this post to read the original article.

Spain plans to ban access to social media for children under the age of 16, joining France and Australia in attempting to curb the potentially harmful impact of online content on young people.

Prime minister Pedro Sánchez announced the move on Tuesday as he railed against “crime and misconduct” on social media platforms, which he said were run by companies that were “wealthier and more powerful than many nations, including mine”.

Decrying the “digital wild west”, he said: “Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone. A space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation, violence. We will no longer accept that. We will protect them.”

France has been leading the charge against social media access for children in Europe. President Emmanuel Macron has said he wants a ban for under-16s and age verification measures in place by the beginning of the next school year in September. “The brains of our children are not for sale,” Macron said in a video message last week.

Sánchez said Spain would also require social media platforms to implement age verification systems: “Not just check boxes, but real barriers that work.” He added that Spain would join France and four other European countries in a “coalition of the willing for digital affairs” created to regulate social media platforms in a co-ordinated way.

UK ministers are also considering an Australia-style ban on social media for children alongside curbs on addictive app features as part of a consultation on restricting harmful internet use.

The Spanish government did not say whether it would need to change the law to implement the ban. Sánchez has struggled to make big legislative reforms because he must corral fractious allies to reach a parliamentary majority.

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In December, Australia became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from holding accounts for 10 apps deemed to be potentially harmful to teenagers and children.

The 10 apps have moved to comply with the law, including a requirement for age verification, but have also challenged the rationale and method by which Australia has chosen to implement it.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said last September that she was closely watching Australia’s social media ban “to see what next steps we can take in Europe,” adding “that parents, not algorithms, should be raising our children”.

Vowing to turn social media into a “healthy and democratic space”, Sánchez said Spain would also “end the impunity” of social media executives by making them responsible for lawbreaking on their platforms.

In addition, he said Spain would make it a criminal offence to manipulate algorithms to amplify illegal content. The government said both those changes would require parliament to approve a change to Spanish law.

Sánchez was scathing about social media companies, including TikTok and Instagram. He also hit out at X owner Elon Musk, condemning him for using his personal account last week to repost criticism of the Spanish prime minister’s move to grant legal status to 500,000 unauthorised immigrants.

Most social media platforms set a minimum age of 13, but users are usually asked to declare their own age and there is often little enforcement. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026

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