@sbsnews_au: Spain plans to ban access to social media for minors under 16, and platforms will be required to implement age-verification systems, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced. Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Sánchez said "children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone ... We will no longer accept that". "My government will investigate and pursue the infringement committed by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram ... and we will defend our digital sovereignty against any form of foreign coercion," he said. In December, Australia became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, a move being closely watched by other countries considering similar age-based measures, such as the UK and France. Sánchez said Spain had joined five other European countries — that he dubbed the "coalition of the digitally willing" — to coordinate and enforce cross-border regulation.
SBS News
Region: AU
Wednesday 04 February 2026 08:27:01 GMT
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Kiko :
80% of Barcelona’s fans dissapear
2026-02-04 14:02:23
30558
eli :
As a former teenager with unrestricted social media access… GOOD.
2026-02-04 14:15:12
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:
This should be global man
2026-02-04 12:07:36
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niklas🇹🇷 :
90% of Barca fans disappear finally 😭🥀
2026-02-05 02:40:31
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user65578488484747474378 :
Spain is the best country in the world
2026-02-04 17:12:37
1631
qasim🇹🇯 :
bro finally no more "15 UCL"
2026-02-04 20:49:57
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al🇦🇱 :
Barcelona fans will disappear 70% away from tiktok😂😂😂
2026-02-04 12:47:30
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Anastasiya Sofia :
We're seeing children act far older than their age because of social media. They're not having childhoods. I think it's GOOD.
2026-02-04 21:19:53
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d.v.d.player :
Adults in the comments, why do you want kids under 16 on social media? Serious question.
2026-02-06 15:33:48
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Oskar Rådstam :
for the children, they say. This will mostly cause problems for every single adult out there being forced to upload their ID to an unsafe third party only to get hacked and have their info sold online. It will make a very small difference for the safety of children on the internet
2026-02-04 13:44:25
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. :
When parents don’t parent the government has to intervene.
2026-02-05 07:42:50
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Martin Mumberson :
and Australia did it first
2026-02-04 09:36:09
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Nduna yomahlalela :
Good for Spain.
2026-02-04 14:55:23
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jojo :
You got to let them have access because that is the world they grew up with but they should block stuff that is inappropriate just have age appropriate stuff like shoes music and things that like that is for their age
2026-02-06 04:55:57
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Tito :
comunismo en todo su esplandor.
2026-02-05 08:22:47
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Ahmed :
great leader Pedro Sanchez 👍👍👍👍🤲🤲🤲🤲
2026-02-07 05:36:44
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Rosana :
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 best decision
2026-02-05 11:11:46
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Uuno Turhamuro :
Nice
2026-02-05 07:35:35
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savage_messiah :
more censorship and restrictions to freedom of speech.
2026-02-04 10:48:42
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LoganXT51 :
This is where is starts. Parents need to be better, not the politicians who are trying to control.
2026-02-04 11:49:54
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♡Winter♡ :
While I do agree, kids to a certain age shouldn't be on social media. thats the parents responsibility to enforce it. not the government. this is just government overreach under the guise of "child safety."
2026-02-04 16:00:30
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Decliner〽️ :
There goes 90% of football edits😭Make this World wide
2026-02-04 13:01:27
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️CannonBorn05🏴 :
As a 20-year-old, I think social media should be banned for anyone under 19 because I’ve seen enough.
2026-02-04 20:01:41
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by_brian07 :
Great! 👏👏👏
2026-02-04 09:51:09
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Show Must Go On 💖 :
I don’t know if it’s actually working, but at least there’s someone who’s taking the danger and the problem seriously.
I do wonder if parents make accounts on their own phones so their kid can still have an hour on social media 🙄
2026-02-05 09:48:32
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