Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has clashed with social media platform owners over plans to ban social media for under-16s in the country.
Sanchez described social media platforms as the “Wild West” and announced plans to hold platform executives accountable for criminal and harmful content.
Social media executives, including tech billionaire and X owner Elon Musk and Russian Telegram founder Pavel Durov, fired back, with Elon Musk calling Sanchez a “true fascist totalitarian” over the proposed measures this week.
In a public Telegram message to all users in Spain, Durov later accused the Sánchez government of “pushing forward with dangerous new regulations that threaten internet freedom.”
He claimed the measures would turn Spain into a “surveillance state disguised as ‘protection'”.
In response, anonymous government officials told the media: “Telegram founder Pavel Durov used his unrestricted control over the app to send mass messages to all users in Spain, spreading several lies and carrying out unwarranted attacks against the government. This is the first time in the history of our country that something like this has happened.”
“Spaniards cannot live in a world where foreign tech oligarchy can freely pump propaganda into our phones just because the government has announced measures to protect minors and enforce the law.”
So what is this debate about and why is it so heated?
What did Sanchez announce?
Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai on Tuesday, Sánchez said Spain aims to “protect children from the digital wild west” by banning social media for children under 16.
Currently, social media platforms such as Facebook and TikTok require users to be at least 13 years old.
“Our children are being exposed to spaces that they should never have been able to navigate alone…We will not accept that anymore,” Sanchez said.
Sánchez added that Spain also plans to enact legislation to hold social media company executives accountable for illegal, hateful or harmful content on their platforms.
“The power of the state is there to protect our democracies from the attacks they are under, and to protect our children and young people from the toxic world of impunity that social media has unfortunately brought us,” Sanchez said.
“They will not crush us, because the voice of reason… will not be silenced by the algorithmic techno-oligarchs.”
Sánchez also announced that Spain has joined a group of five European countries named the Digital Orientation Coalition to discuss cross-border regulation of social media.
Mr. Sánchez did not provide details about what the cooperative effort would entail or say which countries would participate, but added that a meeting would be held soon.
“We know this is a fight that goes far beyond the borders of any country,” he said.
The ban will be introduced as an amendment to an existing bill on the digital protection of minors currently being debated in parliament, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed government spokesperson.
Furiously. On Tuesday, Musk responded to a video of Sánchez’s speech on X, writing: “He is a traitor to the Spanish people.”
He then reposted the video of the speech and wrote again: “Dirty Sanchez is a tyrant and a traitor to the Spanish people.”
Grok, the AI platform on X, was the number one mobile application in Spain last month, Musk claimed.
But Musk has been accused of supporting far-right and white supremacists, particularly in Europe. Last year, he spoke at a political rally for the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the German city of Halle.
On Wednesday, Telegram founder Pavel Durov also slammed Sanchez in a message on Telegram, writing: “These are not security measures, but steps towards total control. We’ve seen this strategy before, where governments weaponize ‘security’ to censor critics.”
Durov was arrested in Paris in August 2024 and charged with 12 crimes for failing to suppress criminal activity on a messaging app. He denied any wrongdoing in a statement last March. He was allowed to leave France under judicial supervision in March, but his case remains unresolved.
What do the Spanish people want?
The Ipsos Education Monitor 2025, published in late August 2025, reported that 82% of Spanish citizens support banning social media for children under 14, up from 73% in 2024.
The survey was conducted in 30 countries, and a majority of respondents in all 30 countries supported banning social media for children under 14.
Social media has long provided easy access to unregulated graphic content, misinformation and hate speech, but the recent explosion of AI-generated content poses new risks to the health of children and young people, experts say.
Last year, the American Psychological Association issued an advisory warning that generative AI systems could amplify harmful content such as violent and sexual videos.
It also added that young people are less likely than adults to question the accuracy of AI-generated content. “They may also be unaware of the persuasive intent underlying the advice and biases of the AI system,” the advisory states.
Ayo Tometi, co-founder of the US-based anti-racism movement Black Lives Matter, said AI could also amplify existing social prejudices.
Children around the world are also concerned about AI being used for online child sexual exploitation and “deepfakes,” according to a UNICEF study on children’s perspectives and AI published in October 2025.
The government seems to be taking this seriously.
Musk’s Grok recently came under fire for allowing users to generate fake sexually explicit images of women and minors. This triggered an investigation by the European Commission last month.
On Tuesday, French prosecutors raided X’s offices in France as part of an investigation into charges including the dissemination of child sexual assault material (CSAM).
On the same day, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a formal investigation “regarding the Grok artificial intelligence system and its potential to generate harmful sexual images and video content,” the agency said.
In December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to ban children under 16 from using social media. Under the law, the 10 largest platforms would be fined $33 million if they fail to take “reasonable steps” to exclude users under the age of 16 based in Australia.
As of January 16, social media companies had revoked access to about 4.7 million accounts identified as belonging to Australian children, officials said.
“We’ve been staring down everyone who says it’s impossible, the world’s most powerful and richest companies and their supporters,” Australian Communications Minister Annika Wells told reporters last month.
Days after Australia’s ban went into effect, Reddit, one of the 10 platforms required to purge minors, filed a challenge to the ban in the High Court, despite complying with the ban.
In 2023, France adopted a law requiring social media platforms to obtain parental consent before children under 15 open an account. However, local media reported that technical problems were hampering enforcement.
In Germany, children between the ages of 13 and 16 need parental consent to use social media platforms. In Italy, children under the age of 14 require parental consent to set up a social media account.
Last year, China’s internet regulator, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), introduced “minor modes” that enforce device-level controls and app-specific rules to limit screen time by age.
Denmark has announced that it will introduce a ban on social media platforms for children under 15 in November 2025. Most political parties said they would support the move in a parliamentary vote.
In the same month, Malaysia announced that it would ban social media for those under 16 from 2026.
In January, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he was considering a ban similar to Australia’s.
Greece also plans to announce a social media ban similar to Spain’s for children under 15, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed government officials.
