The Spanish government wants to ban access to social media for minors under 16 and force platforms to verify the age of users.
This was stated by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Reuters reports.
According to Sanchez, children today find themselves in a digital environment where no one protects them. He called social media the “digital Wild West” and said that the state is no longer willing to tolerate the spread of hate speech, pornography and misinformation that harms adolescents.
Next week, the Spanish government plans to submit a new bill that would make social media platforms liable for illegal content. The document also criminalizes manipulation of algorithms and the distribution of prohibited material.
In addition, the prosecutorʼs office will consider possible violations by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram and allow them to inspect the operation of these services.
- In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16.
- In January, France passed a bill to ban social media for children under 15. The bill will now go to the Senate (the upper house of parliament) for consideration, and if it makes any changes, the National Assembly will vote on it again. If passed, France would become the first country in Europe to completely ban social media for children under 15.
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