"Social media is a failed state," proclaimed Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez last week, before announcing plans to ban social media entirely for kids 15 years old and younger. "Today, our children are exposed to a space where they were never meant to navigate alone: a space of addiction, abuse, pornography, manipulation, and violence," Sánchez said at the World Government Summit in Dubai. "We will no longer accept that. We will protect them from the digital Wild West."
The ban still needs parliamentary approval, which could be discussed this week. It's unclear exactly what platforms would be covered by the ban, but in his speech, Sánchez was especially critical of X and TikTok.
