Social Media

Reem Ibrahim | 2.11.2026 12:15 PM

"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. 

If approved, Spain would become the first European nation to ban social media for minors, but it is unlikely to be the last. Greece will soon unveil a ban similar to Spain's, reports Reuters. The idea also has traction with a sizable coalition of the European Union, including France and Denmark, and at the end of last year, the European Parliament passed a nonlegislative report urging the proposal of "a harmonised........

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