Spain plans to introduce age restrictions and age verification for social media

Spain wants to ban social media for minors and teenagers under 16. To enforce this new law, social media platforms are required to implement age-verification systems.

Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, announced his plans on Tuesday at the World Governments Summit in Dubai.

“Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone. We will no longer accept that. We will protect them from the digital Wild West,” he said at the Summit, according to Reuters.

Sanchez said that Spain joined five other European countries that aim to restrict the use of social media, calling it the “Coalition of the Digitally Willing.” These countries, which the Prime Minister didn’t specify, will meet in the coming days.

Sanchez told the spectators of the World Governments Summit that he will introduce a bill next week. One of the highlights of the bill is that social media platforms will be accountable for hate speech, sexually explicit deepfakes, and other potentially harmful content.

One of the measures the Spanish Prime Minister wants to implement is the introduction of age verification systems. The technology will assess the age of users by scanning a profile image or photo and then either allow or deny access to its platform.

Spain isn’t the first country to aim to regulate social media platforms.

In December 2025, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under the age of 16. Approximately 5 million social media accounts have already been taken offline since then, including 550,000 accounts by Meta.

Numerous European countries are exploring the option to ban social media for children as well.

Denmark has already announced a ban for children under the age of 15, which is set to come into force later this year. Countries such as Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom are considering similar policies, as is the European Commission.

France is also in favor of banning social media for children under the age of 15. Last week, a bill that aims to do just that was passed in the Assemblée Nationale with 116 members of parliament in favor and 23 against.

President Emmanuel Macron called the adoption of the bill “a major step.”