Spain just became the first European country to ban social media access for anyone under 16, throwing down a regulatory gauntlet that could reshape how tech giants operate across the continent. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced the sweeping measure at the World Government Summit in Dubai, calling social media a "failed state" and demanding platforms implement real age-verification barriers starting next week. The move follows Australia's December ban and signals a growing global movement that's putting Meta, TikTok, and other platforms on notice.
Spain just fired the opening shot in what could become Europe's biggest tech regulation battle since GDPR. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez stood before the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday and announced that teens under 16 will be locked out of social media platforms starting next week, making Spain the first European nation to enact an Australia-style ban.
"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," Sanchez declared, according to CNBC. "A failed state in which algorithms distort the public conversation and our data and image are defied and sold."
The ban is part of a five-point regulatory package that targets what Sanchez called systemic failures by tech giants to protect users from harm. Platforms will be required to implement "effective age-verification systems - not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work," he said. Spain hasn't yet defined which companies fall under the new rules, but Sanchez specifically called out Meta, TikTok, and X for various violations.
The prime minister accused TikTok of allowing accounts to share AI-generated child abuse materials, blasted X for enabling its AI chatbot Grok to generate illegal sexual content, and criticized Instagram for spying on millions of Android users. All three companies have been contacted for comment but haven't responded yet.
Spain's timing is deliberate. The country is riding the momentum from Australia's groundbreaking , which went live in December and forced platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X, and Reddit to verify ages or face fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars ($32 million). Australia's move sent shockwaves through the tech industry, and Spain's announcement confirms this isn't a one-off experiment - it's becoming a global trend.
