Spain the latest country to ban access to social media for under-16s

Country will also introduce a bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hate-speech content

Spain's prime minister Pedro Sanchez said new measures would protect children from 'the digital Wild West'.

Spain has become the latest country to announce it is banning access to social media for children under-16 and platforms will be required to implement age-verification systems.

Prime minister Pedro Sanchez made the announcement as he also unveiled several measures to guarantee a safe digital environment.

Sanchez's left-wing coalition government has repeatedly complained about the proliferation of hate speech, pornographic content and disinformation on social media, saying it has negative effects on young people.

"Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone... We will no longer accept that," Sanchez said as he addressed the World Government Summit in Dubai, calling on other European countries to implement similar measures.

We will protect them from the digital Wild West.

Australia in December 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.

Sanchez said Spain had joined five other European countries he dubbed the "Coalition of the Digitally Willing” to coordinate and enforce cross-border regulation.

The coalition will hold its first meeting in the coming days, he said. Sanchez did not say which countries were in the group, and his office did not immediately respond to a request for clarification.

"We know that this is a battle that far exceeds the boundaries of any country," he said.

Spain will also introduce a bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hate-speech content, as well as to criminalise algorithmic manipulation and the amplification of illegal content, Sanchez said.

Among the measures he proposed was a system to track hate speech online, while platforms would be required to introduce age verification systems that "were not just check boxes", he said.

His government would begin the process of passing legislation from as early as next week, he said.

He added prosecutors would explore ways to investigate possible legal infractions by Elon Musk's Grok, TikTok and Instagram.

Last week, Tánaiste Simon Harris said Ireland needed to prohibit the use of social media by those aged under 16, adding there had to be a “baring of teeth” and enforcement of the age of digital consent.