Spain targets social media to protect minors from online harm

Spain is preparing to draw one of its toughest red lines on social media, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announcing that children under the age of 16 will be banned from social media next week, as part of the country's efforts to shield its youth from the "Digital Wild West."

Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, Sánchez said Spain would it compulsory for social media companies to implement age-verification systems with “real barriers” that will effectively restrict access.

"Today, our children are exposed to a space they never meant to navigate alone. It is a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation, and violence. We will no longer accept that. We will protect them from the digital Wild West."

As part of the proposed reforms, platforms will also face criminal charges if they fail to remove illegal or hateful content that harms minors, dramatically raising the stakes for global tech firms operating in Spain.

Spain’s proposal follows similar discussions in other countries. In the UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer recently said he was open to considering a ban on social media for under-16s, while Australia began enforcing restrictions in December that prevent minors under that age from holding social media accounts.

The crackdown also extends to how content is promoted. Sánchez announced investigations into algorithmic manipulation and disinformation on platforms including Elon Musk’s Grok, Instagram and TikTok, signaling that Spanish regulators are prepared to scrutinize how recommendation systems amplify harmful or misleading content, particularly when it reaches younger users.

Spain tightens crypto oversight as MiCA rules come into force

Alongside its push to regulate social media, Spain is advancing a parallel effort to bring order to digital finance through the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. As an EU member state, Spain is required to implement MiCA, which establishes a unified regulatory regime for crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers and other digital asset service providers.

Spain’s national securities regulator outlined its MiCA expectations in December, setting out authorization, notification and compliance requirements for crypto companies operating in the country. Firms that were active before December 2024 have until June 30, 2026, to meet the new standards or cease offering services, marking a transition from fragmented national rules to a harmonized EU-wide system.

Together, the social media ban proposal and MiCA implementation underscore Spain’s broader regulatory strategy: tightening oversight of digital spaces that have grown faster than the laws governing them.

While the government says the goal is to protect users — particularly children and retail investors — the measures also place new pressure on tech and crypto companies to adapt to stricter accountability standards.

As Sánchez’s government moves to tame both the online attention economy and the crypto market, Spain is positioning itself at the forefront of Europe’s digital regulation push — challenging global platforms to operate under clearer rules in what authorities say can no longer remain a lawless frontier.