The policy follows Australia’s landmark prohibition and comes as countries including Greece, France, Denmark, Malaysia, Germany, and Britain consider similar restrictions or tighter age verification rules
Spain is planning to ban social media access for children under the age of 16, placing the country at the center of a growing international effort to shield young people from the harms of digital platforms.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced the measure during the World Government Summit in Dubai, describing online platforms as a dangerous environment for minors and outlining plans for stricter oversight of technology companies.
“Social media has become a failed state, where laws are ignored, and crimes are tolerated,” he said.
The proposal would require platforms to implement robust age verification systems and would form part of a broader digital protection framework now under parliamentary debate. The government is also preparing legislation to hold social media executives legally accountable for illegal and hateful content while targeting algorithmic practices that amplify such material.
Spain’s move follows Australia’s world-first law banning children under 16 from social media, a policy that has already forced companies to remove millions of accounts belonging to minors and triggered a global debate about the role of technology in childhood.
A widening global trend
Spain is not acting alone. Governments across Europe and beyond are reconsidering how much freedom young users should have online as concerns mount over mental health, cyberbullying, exploitation, and exposure to harmful content.
Greece has proposed a similar ban for users under 15, while Britain is studying stronger age restrictions and enforcement mechanisms. France is pushing for limits that would bar children under 15 from creating accounts without verified parental consent, and Denmark is considering comparable rules as part of a coordinated European regulatory push.
Elsewhere, Malaysia has said it intends to prohibit users under 16 from social platforms beginning next year. Germany is studying whether a nationwide ban could be implemented, and lawmakers within the European Parliament have floated the idea of setting a blocwide minimum age of 16, with only narrow exceptions.
Even where outright bans are not yet in place, several countries already require parental permission for minors to create accounts, reflecting mounting political pressure on technology companies to strengthen safeguards.
Political and public backing
In Spain, the initiative has drawn strong public support and is framed as a way to enhance parental oversight while reducing social pressures on children. Sánchez said the country had joined other European nations in a coalition aimed at coordinating cross-border regulation of social platforms, emphasizing that the challenge extends beyond national borders.
The proposal could still face legislative hurdles because the government lacks a clear parliamentary majority, though opposition leaders have signaled openness to similar restrictions.
Still, the direction of travel is increasingly clear. From Australia to Europe and parts of Asia, policymakers are converging on stricter rules for children online, signaling a shift toward treating social media less as an unavoidable feature of modern childhood and more as a space requiring firm guardrails.
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