Pedro Sánchez announces that Spain will ban access to digital platforms for children under sixteen years old

Dubai (United Arab Emirates)

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the World Governments Summit (Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo)

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, took part in the World Governments Summit where he gave the keynote speech at the opening of the forum, announcing a package of five legislative and regulatory measures to tackle the abuses of large digital platforms and ensure a safe, democratic digital environment that respects fundamental rights.

Pedro Sánchez has put the spotlight on digital governance as a central issue of our era that must be addressed globally in the face of the failed state of the social media ecosystem, where "laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated". The president analysed the lack of government control over content and impunity in the face of non-compliance with the law, the spread of disinformation and hate speech, and the lack of protection of personal data and material as serious dangers that challenge the protection of rights and freedoms and distort, particularly for minors who have integrated the use of networks into their daily lives.

President Sánchez highlighted the government's determination to protect minors and strengthen control over social networks, announcing five measures aimed at digital platforms, including banning access to social networks in Spain for minors under the age of sixteen by forcing digital platforms to implement effective age verification systems.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, during his speech at the World Governments Summit | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Through a reform of the law, Pedro Sánchez also proposes to put an end to the impunity of managers so that they can be held legally responsible for infringements committed on their platforms if content that violates the law or is considered hateful is not removed. He also announced that the manipulation of algorithms and the amplification of illegal content will be criminalised.

In defence of digital sovereignty and calling for "zero tolerance" for any form of coercion, he said that the government will work with the public prosecutor's office to investigate possible legal infringements by Grok, TikTok and Instagram. To tackle the amplification of hate speech, President Sánchez also announced the creation of a tracking, quantification and traceability system to establish a "Hate and Polarisation Footprint" and expose the permissiveness of digital platforms that feed this type of content, the impact of which is leading to greater social division.

Meeting between the President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, and the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

The president also announced that Spain has joined five European countries in the "Coalition of the Digitally Disposed" to advance in a coordinated and effective way at multinational level in the application of stricter, faster and more efficient regulation of social platforms.

He also pointed to Spain as one of the most attractive investment destinations globally, backed by economic growth that is almost double the Eurozone average, a GDP of more than two trillion dollars, and an expanding labour market, reinforced by the solidity provided by the Spain Grows sovereign wealth fund, which aims to mobilise up to €120 billion. In this context, he stressed the country's open and forward-looking vocation, defending Spain's commitment to cooperation, openness to new partners and the building of bridges rather than walls.

Spain Grows Fund

In the margins of the forum, President Sanchez held a series of meetings, including with the honorary vice-chairman of the board and co-chairman of XPeng Motors, Brian Gu. He also met with a group of representatives of Spanish companies based in the United Arab Emirates.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, meets with Spanish business leaders in Dubai | Pool Moncloa/Fernando Calvo

Meanwhile, he had the opportunity to present the Spain Grows fund to representatives of the sovereign wealth funds MUBADALA and MASDAR, who expressed their congratulations on the good performance of the Spanish economy and their interest in continuing growing in Spain. The president is scheduled to hold another meeting with senior executives of the ADIA fund to inform them of the initiative.

Non official translation