Spain proposes ban on social media use by under-16s as part of child-safety overhaul

Spain’s executive has presented a bill that would prevent children under 16 from freely accessing mainstream social platforms unless a parent or guardian gives explicit permission. The measure compels digital services to tighten age-gating and consent mechanisms, placing new technical and operational burdens on platforms that operate across borders. Regulators will need to specify acceptable verification methods and safeguards: options range from privacy-preserving attestations to more intrusive identity checks tied to telecom or device credentials. That choice matters because more invasive checks increase the volume of sensitive data held by companies, enlarging the attractiveness of those systems to attackers and heightening breach risks. Experience in other European jurisdictions shows such rules can drive younger users toward circumvention tools — notably VPNs — and to unregulated or niche apps, complicating the policy's intended protective effect. Platforms facing the Spanish rule could respond in different ways: enforce stricter onboarding in Spain, geoblock new accounts, or redesign global sign-up flows to minimize local differentiation — each carrying financial and product-design costs. Smaller services are likely to face disproportionate compliance challenges compared with large incumbents that can absorb verification and legal costs. The plan will also trigger legal scrutiny over proportionality and fundamental-rights implications under Spanish and EU law, particularly if network-level or telecom-backed controls are contemplated. Economically, firms that rely on youth engagement for growth or ad targeting could see reduced visible audiences in Spain, while moderation and liability dynamics shift. Civil-society and child-safety advocates have backed tougher obligations in principle, but many rights groups warn against trade-offs that sacrifice privacy or push children to harder‑to‑monitor corners of the internet. If enacted, Spain’s proposal would add momentum to a broader European conversation about statutory age limits and enforcement mechanisms, but its real-world effects will hinge on the technical standards regulators select, judicial review outcomes, and how quickly platforms and telecoms implement compatible measures. Policymakers must balance the benefits of stronger default protections for minors against the risks of creating centralized stores of personal data, incentivizing circumvention, and imposing uneven burdens across the digital ecosystem.