Spain spearheads an international coalition to protect children in the age of artificial intelligence

Spain is spearheading an international coalition of countries to protect children in the age of artificial intelligence, as announced by the Minister for Digital Transformation and Civil Service, Óscar López, at the first meeting of the United Nations Global Dialogue on AI Governance, which is being held in Geneva with 4,200 participants.

"Spain is putting forward a specific proposal to protect children when using AI, and we hope to gain support from other countries so that this initiative can go ahead. It's not the first time we've done this. Spain spearheaded the EU's move to ban sexual deepfakes created using AI. And we want to pave the way at an international level, through the United Nations, to protect children", the minister said in comments to the media.

This coalition would operate under the umbrella of the United Nations with the aim of enabling its members to agree on common principles to ensure that AI respects the rights, safety and development of children. Spain has the support of France, the EU and Kenya in its efforts to launch this alliance.

The rapid roll-out of AI systems is transforming the digital environments in which children learn, communicate and interact. These technologies create new opportunities, but they also exacerbate risks such as manipulation, harmful content, the generation of pornography and child sexual abuse material using deepfakes, and the algorithmic targeting of children. Ensuring that AI systems are safe by design requires coordinated action between governments, industry, civil society and international organisations.

"We are at a critical juncture in history where we can either move forward or go backwards. Total deregulation is not the way forward. Mistakes were made in the past, for example, with social media. We cannot afford to fall behind on AI", warned Minister Óscar López.

AI: a right for the majority

In his address to the plenary session of the meeting, López emphasised the same point. "The many benefits of AI will be overshadowed by its risks if we do not regulate it immediately. AI should be a right for the majority, not an exclusive weapon". He therefore called from Geneva for "political will" to "turn evidence into action".

Spain, alongside Costa Rica, co-led the efforts to establish, within the UN, this Global Dialogue on AI Governance and the first Independent Scientific Panel on AI. Spain also championed the European AI regulation and was a pioneer within the EU with the creation of the Spanish AI Supervisory Agency (AESIA) and the launch of the Charter and the Digital Rights Observatory.

"We are not content with merely regulating AI to ensure it is ethical and reliable; we also develop it to ensure it is competitive and sovereign. Spain listens to the scientific community, promotes innovation and advocates for a global dialogue that seeks to combine AI and digital rights. We are talking about defending human rights in the face of techno-fascism", he concluded.

Non official translation