OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday announced plans to ban minors under 16 from accessing social media platforms as part of a broader push to tighten oversight.

“We will protect them from the wild west of the digital world,” he said at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. “Social networks have become a failed state, where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated.”

He said platforms will be required to introduce age-verification measures for access.

Sanchez said the government will pass a bill next week that would hold executives of digital platforms criminally liable for disseminating illicit content. He also urged prosecutors to investigate illegal content on the platforms.

He added that Spain will make the manipulation of algorithms a criminal offense.

“Disinformation does not come out of nowhere,” he said.

Sanchez cited examples of alleged criminal activity, including claims that child pornography was created using the artificial intelligence tool Grok or spread on other social media platforms. He also pointed to disinformation he said Elon Musk, CEO of X, spread about Spain’s plan to regularize around 500,000 migrants.

“This is only the tip of the iceberg,” Sanchez warned. “We are going to defend our digital sovereignty against any foreign interference.”

He acknowledged that the fight to make the platforms safer will not be easy.

“Social media companies are richer than many countries, including mine, but its power and influence should not frighten us,” he said.

While he noted that the EU is already moving towards restricting these platforms, Sanchez said a group of six European countries want to rein in social media further and will meet soon to discuss initiatives.

“Some will say that if we don’t like them, we can just not use them. They’re right. For many of us, that is still an option, but for our children and many citizens, it isn’t. Social media has become an essential part of their lives," he said. "We have to regain control. We need to ensure these platforms follow the rules like everyone else."