Spain became the first European country to announce a ban on social media for children under 16 on February 3, 2026, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez declaring at the World Government Summit in Dubai that social media platforms represent a failed state where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated. Unlike Australia’s ban that relies on fines up to 49.5 million Australian dollars, Spain’s approach makes executives criminally liable for illegal content on their platforms.

What The PM Said

Sánchez said children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone, describing it as a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation, and violence. Platforms have failed to self-regulate and require government intervention, with the ban requiring real barriers that work, not just checkboxes asking users to confirm their age.

Sánchez criticised TikTok for allowing accounts to share AI-generated child abuse materials and X for enabling its Grok chatbot to generate illegal sexual content, with the announcement coming days after the European Union opened an investigation into X over reports that people were using its Grok AI chatbot to create and share non-consensual intimate imagery and child sexual abuse material.

Criminal Liability for Executives

Spain hasn’t yet defined which platforms the ban will cover or specified age verification methods, but the inclusion of criminal liability for executives represents a sharp departure from other countries’ approaches. Platform executives could face criminal prosecution if illegal content appears on their services and children access it, shifting enforcement from financial penalties to personal legal consequences for company leadership.

Platforms are likely to argue they cannot be held criminally responsible for user-generated content, particularly when users upload content faster than moderation systems can detect it, and legal challenges are almost certain. Meta said parents, not governments, should decide which apps teenagers use, with a company spokesperson warning that governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens towards less safe, unregulated sites or logged-out experiences that bypass protections like the default safeguards Instagram’s Teen Accounts offer.

Reddit lodged a court case against the Australian government in December challenging the constitutionality of Australia’s ban, and TikTok and other platforms have warned that age verification requirements could expose users to privacy risks by requiring them to submit government-issued identification documents.

Europe Is Coordinating

Spain’s coordination with five unnamed European countries suggests discussions are happening behind the scenes to harmonise restrictions across borders, with France’s under-15 ban expected to take effect in September 2026, Greece indicating it is close to announcing a similar policy, Denmark allocating 160 million kroner for child online safety initiatives targeting mid-2026 implementation, and Norway having presented legislation in June 2025.

Whether the European Union will adopt a bloc-wide approach or member states will implement their own versions, creating different age limits and enforcement mechanisms across countries, remains to be seen. Daisy Greenwell, co-founder of the UK-based Smartphone Free Childhood campaign, told CNBC that this is a global issue with governments everywhere facing pressure to respond and that as confidence builds and evidence accumulates, more countries will follow.

What Parents Should Know

Spain hasn’t provided implementation timelines or draft legislation, so nothing changes immediately for Spanish families with children approaching 16. The country hasn’t specified how age verification will work beyond requiring real barriers rather than self-certification, and criminal liability for executives will almost certainly face legal challenges that could reshape how any platform hosting user-generated content operates.

What to Watch

France, Greece, Denmark, and Norway are all pursuing similar policies, though Spain’s announcement suggests a more formal coordination effort with five countries that governments haven’t publicly disclosed yet. Which countries are coordinating with Spain should become clearer over the next few months.

Criminal liability provisions will almost certainly face legal challenges, and whether Spain’s courts uphold prosecuting executives for user-generated content will determine whether other countries adopt similar approaches.

Sources:

Bloomberg, “Spain to Ban Children From Social Platforms Like Grok and TikTok,” February 3, 2026