As online content is under scrutiny globally, the heat of the moment also led Spain to plan a social media ban over child safety concerns.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, the new plan initiated by Spain is for those aged under 16 and will create a law to hold social media executives personally responsible for hate speech on their platforms.
The Spanish government has ordered prosecutors to investigate social media platforms X, Meta, and TikTok for allegedly spreading AI-generated child sexual abuse material, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday.
"These platforms are undermining the mental health, dignity, and rights of our children," he wrote on his X account. "The state cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end."
Spain joins a host of countries such as Britain and France considering banning social media after Australia in December became the first country in the world to prohibit access to such platforms for children under 16. Governments and regulators worldwide are also looking at the impact of children's screen time on their development and mental health.
"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 Governments Summit in Dubai, calling on other European countries to implement similar measures.
The coalition will hold its first meeting in the coming days, he said.
"We know that this is a battle that far exceeds the boundaries of any country," he said.
One of Europe's few center-left leaders currently, Sanchez first took aim at social media owners last year, referring to them as a "techno-caste" that should be held responsible for "poisoning society" with algorithms.
The EU's Digital Services Act, which took full effect in early 2024, requires social media platforms to moderate content, while critics say this creates tensions between responsible governance and censorship concerns.
The recent rapid explosion of AI-generated content online has fuelled the debate, however, highlighted this month by a public outcry over reports of Elon Musk's Grok AI chatbot generating non-consensual sexual images, including of minors.
Sanchez said Spain will introduce a bill next week to hold social media executives accountable for illegal and hate speech content, as well as to criminalize algorithmic manipulation and the amplification of illegal content.
Among the measures he proposed was a system to track hate speech online, while platforms would be required to introduce age verification systems that "are not just check boxes," he said.
Sanchez also said prosecutors would explore ways to investigate possible legal infractions by Elon Musk's Grok, TikTok, and Meta's Instagram.
His government would begin the process of passing legislation from as early as next week, he said.
About 82% of Spaniards said they believed children under 14 should be banned from social media inside and outside school, according to a 30-country Ipsos poll on education published last August, that was up from 73% in 2024.