has many obstacles ahead

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has announced from Dubai a package of five measures with the intention of regulating digital platforms, among which stands out the total prohibition of access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age and criminal sanctions against the manipulation of algorithms. The proposals will still need to go through Congress.

Advertisement. Social media has become a “failed state where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated,” counted Pedro Sánchez this Tuesday at the World Governments Summit in Dubai. It is not the first time that the president has attacked the platforms, since less than two weeks ago he already proposed in Davos end anonymity on networks and hold their owners criminally responsible. Now he has finalized legislative measures that, according to Sánchez, will begin to be processed “next week.”

The five measures announced. Package Included:

• Prohibition of access to social networks for minors under 16 years of age, forcing platforms to implement effective age verification systems.
• Criminal liability for platform managers if they do not remove hateful or illegal content.
• Legal punishment for the manipulation of algorithms and the deliberate amplification of illegal content.
• Creation of a tracking system, referred to by Sánchez as a “footprint of hate and polarization”, that will quantify how platforms amplify social division and will serve as a basis for future sanctions.
• Collaboration between the Government and the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate and prosecute crimes committed by Grok (X’s AI), TikTok and Instagram.

Qprohibition of minors. Spain would thus follow in the footsteps of France or Australia, which have already legislated in this direction with age limits of 15 and 16 years respectively. The preliminary draft of Organic Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environmentsapproved in June 2024 and currently being processed by parliament, was already contemplating raising the minimum age to open a network account without parental consent from 14 to 16 years.

What the Government is now proposing is to introduce an amendment that expressly reflects this total prohibition and forces platforms to implement age verifications. The President of the Government justified the measure stating that children are exposed “to a space of addiction, abuse, violence, pornography and manipulation.”

Criminal liability for directors. Although the European Union already holds large platforms accountable through the Digital Services Regulation (DSA), which until now has allowed fines to be imposed as the 120 million euros to X Due to breaches of transparency, the measure announced by Sánchez differs in attributing direct criminal responsibility to the directors. According to the announcement, this will be articulated through an Organic Law Project that must pass through Parliament.

Algorithms and illegal content. Criminalizing algorithmic manipulation is perhaps the most ambitious and least detailed measure. Sanchez stated that “no more hiding under the code and saying that technology is neutral”, pointing to platforms whose algorithms amplify misinformation “in exchange for benefits.” The initiative will also begin through an Organic Law Project, although the president has not specified what exactly he means by “manipulating algorithms” or how this manipulation will be proven.

The “Footprint of Hate” as a measurement tool. The proposed system aims to quantify and reveal how platforms “fuel division and amplify hate,” something Sánchez recognized which until now was considered “invisible and impossible to quantify”. This tool would serve as a basis for defining future sanctions, establishing that spreading hate must have a “legal, economic and ethical” cost that platforms cannot ignore. However, no details have been provided on how it will technically work or what metrics it will use.

Platform-specific investigations. The Government will work with the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate possible crimes by Grok, TikTok and Instagram. Just like points out The Country, in the case of Grokthe Ministry of Youth and Children already sent a letter weeks ago to the Prosecutor’s Office requesting that they investigate whether The controversy motivated the European Commission to open an investigation.

Union with other countries. Sanchez recognized that it is “a battle that far exceeds the borders of any country” and announced that Spain has joined forces with five other European countries in a “Coalition of the Digitally Willing”, which promises to impose stricter, faster and more effective regulation. From the media El Confidencial they count that the first meeting of this coalition will be held in the coming days, although the details have not been revealed or which countries comprise it.

Many obstacles. It is not the first time that the President of the Government has leaned towards the regulation of social networks. Just like account El Mundo, a year ago in Davos, already pointed out that platforms are “eroding democracies”, and in November it announced an investigation against Meta for alleged violation of the privacy of millions of users.

The complication of this package of measures is finding a practical implementation, on the one hand by the parliamentary minority of the Government, and on the other the technical complexity required to effectively implement systems such as age verification or the detection of algorithmic manipulation.

To all this we must add a big melon: What is a social network? Which are considered social networks and which are not? More and more governments want to limit them, but implementing practical measures will be a difficult task.

Cover image | The Moncloa (Flickr)

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