🏛️📱 Spain's government moves to regulate social media for minors amid backlash from tech leaders

Oneliner

Spain's government has approved a proposal to ban social media access for users under 16, aiming to protect minors from harmful online content. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez emphasized the need for regulation, stating that the state must safeguard democracy and children from the negative impacts of social networks. The initiative has faced backlash from tech leaders like Elon Musk and Pavel Durov, who claim it threatens freedoms. The government plans to hold platform executives criminally liable for failing to remove illegal content as part of this regulatory package.

Key points

• Spain's government has approved a proposal to ban social media access for users under 16.
• Tech leaders, including Elon Musk and Pavel Durov, have criticized the regulations, claiming they threaten freedoms.
• Prime Minister Sánchez emphasizes the need to protect children from harmful online content.
• The proposal includes holding platform executives criminally liable for failing to remove illegal content.

Links

• Europa Press: Moncloa reprocha al fundador de Telegram sus "mentiras" y "ataques ilegítimos" contra el Gobierno
• Europa Press: Sánchez: "No nos van a quebrar porque la voz de la democracia no será doblegada por los tecnoligarcas del algoritmo"
• elDiario: Los tecnoligarcas reaccionan con bulos e insultos a la propuesta de regulación de Sánchez
• Europa Press: Montero valora la propuesta de Sánchez sobre menores y redes sociales ante la que "se revuelven oligarcas tecnológicos"
• El Mundo: Sánchez, despreocupado con los ataques de Musk y Telegram: "No nos van a quebrar. La voz de la democracia no va a ser doblegada por tecnoligarcas del algoritmo"
• efe.com: Sánchez asegura que «la democracia no va a ser doblegada» por los tecnoligarcas
• 20minutos: Fad Juventud valora como "necesario pero no suficiente" prohibir a los menores de 16 años las redes y piden más educación digital
• El Mundo: Sánchez sobre Musk y Telegram: "La democracia no será doblegada por tecnoligarcas del algoritmo"

Facts

• The proposal bans social media access for users under 16.
• Sánchez's initiative includes holding platform leaders criminally liable for harmful content.
• Durov and Musk have publicly criticized the regulations, labeling them as authoritarian.
• The government aims to implement age verification apps to protect minors' privacy.

Quotes

• They will not break us because the voice of democracy will not be bowed by those algorithmic technoligarchs — Pedro Sánchez
• Protecting childhood is not among their priorities — María Jesús Montero

Article