Spain Takes Firm Action: Criminal Penalties for Digital Platform CEOs and Ban on Social Media for Under-16s

Original article: España va con mano dura: castigos penales a CEOs de plataformas digitales y veto de RR.SS. para menores de 16

«Currently, our children are exposed to a space where they should never navigate alone, a space of addiction, abuse, violence, pornography, and manipulation. We will not tolerate it any longer; we will protect them against this digital Wild West,» stated Spain’s President Pedro Sánchez.

The President of the Government of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, opened a new front on Thursday against misinformation and illicit content that he claims is rampant on social media, contributing to the rise of far-right movements globally.

During his speech at the Global Governments Summit in Dubai, focusing on digitalization, Sánchez announced that the Council of Ministers will approve a legislative package next Tuesday aimed at significantly tightening regulations for digital platforms. The offensive is built around two main pillars: criminal liability for CEOs of these companies for disseminating illegal content and an explicit ban on social media access for all under-16s.

«Last year I went to Davos to warn governments about the dangers of social media, and today I am here in Dubai to tell them that Spain will take action, will fight, and will continue to do so,» the leader began.

“Social media has become a failed state where laws are ignored, crimes are tolerated, misinformation is valued over truth, and half of users suffer hate attacks,” he stated, outlining the rationale for the measures.

The government’s declared objective is to lead the way in this struggle, even surpassing current initiatives being processed in the European Union.

“Platforms will have to implement effective age verification measures, real barriers that work,” he added.

Criminal Liability for CEOs

The most striking measure is the introduction of direct criminal liability for the CEOs of major platforms. Through an organic law, the Spanish government will pursue legal action against figures like Elon Musk (X, formerly Twitter) or Mark Zuckerberg (Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram) if their platforms do not remove illegal content, such as child pornography.

«We will amend legislation in Spain so that executives of these platforms are legally accountable for the multiple violations occurring on their sites,» he stated.

«This means that the CEOs of these tech platforms will face criminal liability if they fail to remove hate speech or illegal content,» he added.

This initiative is inspired by actions taken in France, which in 2023 criminalized the malicious manipulation of algorithms. In fact, French prosecutors raided X’s headquarters in Paris on Tuesday and summoned Musk for alleged algorithmic manipulation.

«Misinformation does not arise from nothing,» Sánchez emphasized, linking the actions of platforms to social effects.

The legal offensive does not end there. The President also urged the Attorney General’s Office to investigate crimes committed through artificial intelligence systems such as Grok (X’s AI), Meta, or TikTok.

«We will defend our digital sovereignty against any foreign interference,» he warned, citing the shocking case of Grok, which has reportedly generated three million sexualized images, including 23,000 of minors, prompting Brussels to open an investigation into this tool and X for creating non-consensual pornographic images.

Ban on Social Media for Under-16s in Spain and the ‘Hate Footprint’

The second pillar of the package is the protection of minors. The government will implement a ban on social media access for anyone under 16.

Platforms will be legally required to impose robust age verification mechanisms. This measure will be formalized through an amendment to the Child Protection in Digital Environments Bill, which is currently under parliamentary review.

«Some may say that if we don’t like them, we can leave them. They are right. For many of us, this remains an option, but for our children and many citizens, it does not. Social media has become an essential part of their lives,» Sánchez argued, justifying the need to establish this barrier.

Simultaneously, an innovative tracking, quantifying, and traceability system will be created to establish a ‘Hate and Polarization Footprint’ for each platform.

According to reports from El Diario.es, government sources explained that «the aim is to transform an opaque phenomenon into a quantifiable and assessable element, creating a ranking from worst to best platforms regarding the presence of hate and polarization on them.»

Sánchez reminded that over half of social media users experience hate attacks.

«This tool will be the basis for determining future sanctions,» he indicated, while asserting that “social media has become a failed state where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated.”

Examples of Abuse and Crimes on Social Media

In his speech, the President listed specific cases that illustrate the severity of the problem: from the dissemination on TikTok of child pornography content created with AI, to the «billions of views» that such anti-immigration videos generated by artificial intelligence receive on that platform.

He also specifically referred to the «misinformation» spread by Elon Musk himself — «despite being an immigrant» — regarding the regularization of immigrants announced by the government. «The same platform that has allowed Grok to create illegal sexual content,» he added critically.

«This is only the tip of the iceberg,» Sánchez warned, asserting that these are examples «of the multiple abuses and crimes that occur daily on social media.»

«It will not be easy. Social media companies are richer than many countries, including mine,» he acknowledged, recognizing the magnitude of the challenge.

However, he insisted on his determination, stating that «their power and influence should not frighten us.»

To advance this agenda, Spain will not act alone. Sánchez announced that six European countries, including Spain, have decided to go further than the EU framework and will start working together to promote this initiative to curb social media, meeting soon to coordinate actions that promise a direct confrontation with tech giants.