Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced plans to introduce a series of measures to regulate the digital sphere at the World Governments Summit taking place in Dubai, as reported by Kazinform.
Sánchez stated that starting next week, on February 10, 2026, his government will begin work on new legislation. One of the key points will be a potential ban on the use of social networks for minors under the age of 16.
As part of these measures, platforms will be required to implement reliable age verification systems, which should not just consist of standard fill-in fields, but rather effective verification mechanisms such as identification cards or biometric data. This could make Spain the first country in Europe to impose a complete ban on access to social networks for teenagers under 16.
Additionally, the Spanish authorities intend to investigate the AI chatbot "Grok" from xAI, as well as the platforms TikTok and Instagram (Meta). Sánchez touched on the issue of the distribution of materials depicting sexual violence against children created with the help of AI, as well as other forms of non-consensual content.
It is worth noting that similar measures are also being discussed in other European countries, such as France, Denmark, and Greece.
However, experts warn that implementing such strict requirements, especially age verification, may face various technical, legal, and economic challenges.
