Spain’s Prime Minister on Tuesday announced plans to prohibit minors from accessing social media, as part of regulatory measures to address online safety concerns.

The announcement came at the World Governments Summit hosted in Dubai. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez opened the forum by stating that social media and digital platforms have become an environment where “laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated.” He decried prevalent dangers of social media, including disinformation, hate speech, and insufficient data protections, and spoke of these risks as challenges to the protection of young peoples’ rights and freedoms.

Sánchez revealed multiple regulatory proposals aimed at broadening protections in the digital landscape, including: a ban on social media access for children under 16; mandatory age verification systems; increased accountability mechanisms for social media executive and companies that violate regulatory measures; and criminalization of algorithm manipulation.

The prime minister also proposed a “Hate and Polarization Footprint” that would track and expose platforms that facilitate and “fuel” harmful or illegal content.

Spain is one of many countries to consider stricter regulation of digital platforms. The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act 2025, which came into effect in 2025, requires age verification checks when accessing any information which may be deemed harmful content for minors. The act received royal assent in October 2023.

New Zealand introduced the Social Media (Age-Restricted Users) Bill in May 2025, seeking to ban minors under the age of 16 from accessing social media through stringent age verification measures.