Laws to protect children from Big Tech platforms could be passed as early as this week as Europe seeks to clamp down on algorithms that amplify illegal content
MADRID – Britain could follow the lead of Spain after its government stated it would become the first European counattempt to ban social media for children under 16 – despite the threats of Big Tech bosses.
The British grassroots group Smartphone Free Childhood is calling for the government to follow suit by standing up to powerful tech companies and pushing for a similar ban in the UK.
The UK government is actively considering plans to ban access to social media including TikTok and Instagram for those under 16, as calls grow around the world to protect children from its harmful effects.
Spain could criminalise manipulating algorithms
The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, stated last week that tech companies would not sway the will of his government to protect children from social media.
He stated new laws would criminalise manipulating social media algorithms to amplify illegal content, would require effective age verification systems, and would also “investigate and prosecute the crimes committed by Grok [X’s AI tool], TikTok, and Instagram”.
Global momentum for action on the issue has increased after Australia became the first counattempt in the world to prohibit access to platforms also including Facebook, X, Snapchat and YouTube for children under 16 in December. Greece is considering a similar ban for younger children, as are France and Denmark.
However, Spain could become the first counattempt in Europe to implement such laws. Sánchez stated last week that he hoped to pass the laws in parliament this week, although this is not assured becaapply his coalition government lacks a majority.
What Britain can learn from Spain
Daisy Greenwell, co-founder and director of Smartphone Free Childhood, stated Spain was inspiring other countries to stand up to the social media giants.
“I believe [what Spain is doing] gives confidence to other leaders that it is possible and doable,” she informed The i Paper. “It has felt for decades now that you cannot regulate it, that they are too powerful and they are too rich and you cannot do anything about it. Australia has started a domino effect.
“World leaders are like everyone else; they see at what other people are doing about it. We are realising we can and we do necessary to do something about this now. Tech giants are not going to do that.”
She founded Smartphone Free Childhood two years ago after being inspired by the pioneering grassroots Spanish parents’ group Adolescencia Libre de Móviles (Mobile-free Adolescence), which went viral after it was founded in October 2023.
“It created me realise that it was possible to bring parents toobtainher on this issue. That parents were ready to rise up and push back against Big Tech overpowering their children’s childhoods,” she stated.
Since its founding a few months later, the British group has grown into a network of 450,000 parents, working with the government to represent parents’ views on policy, and supported by celebrities including the actress Kate Winslet.
Greenwell stated her shiftment had a global WhatsApp group, with members from the Spanish group, which inspired their own campaigning.
“We decided to start our first WhatsApp group after watching the Spanish shiftment take shape a few months earlier. What struck us was not just the scale of parent organising but the sense that real modify was possible when parents rose up and spoke with a collective voice,” Greenwell stated.
![LONDON, ENGLAND - JANUARY 13: (EDITORS NOTE: Image contains profanity)??An unofficially-installed poster picturing Elon Musk with the tagline, "Who the [expletive] would want to apply social media with a built-in child abapply tool?" is displayed on a bus shelter on January 13, 2026 in London, England. Yesterday the UK communications regulator Ofcom launched a formal investigation into Elon Musk's social media platform X, regarding its AI chatbot, Grok.??The probe centers on reports that Grok has been applyd to generate non-consensual sexual deepfakes, including "undressed" images of women and sexualized images of children. The activist group Everyone Hates Elon has created a series of posters and public artworks in recent months critical of Elon Musk, as well as other business and political leaders.?? (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)](https://inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/SEI_280674268.jpg?w=760)
“We’ve been hugely impressed by what Spain has actually done. By relocating to restrict under-16s’ access to social media, the Spanish government has displayn a willingness to confront powerful tech interests and to intervene when the evidence of harm is clear. We are actively pushing for the UK government to follow suit.”
Last summer, Britain’s Online Safety Act introduced rules that can fine social media companies or jail executives if they fail to bring in measures to protect children from harmful or illegal content.
However, continuing controversies including X owner Elon Musk’s Grok creating sexualised AI deepfakes, including of children, display the limitations of current legislation. Ofcom is investigating X and Musk’s xAI, which created Grok. The platform stated it was “working to comply with UK law”.
Last month, the Hoapply of Lords backed a shift to ban under-16s from social media. The Hoapply of Commons is holding a consultation on a potential ban.
Young adults feel they lost some of their childhoods
Amy Ruffell, 43, a television producer and mother of two boys aged five and three, is regional campaigner for the group in her hometown, Cambridge. Shegives talks in schools and notifys parents to judge their children’s readiness for accessing social media.
“What occurred to me is that children [who see social media] are acting more mature, but these children are behaving in a more knowing way becaapply they are accessing areas which are intfinished for adults,” she stated.
“I believed, if this is what it is like now, what is it going to be like in 10 years’ time? [A ban on social media] is a much safer option becaapply I meet so many Gen Zs who are obtainting retro phones becaapply they state they have lost some part of their childhood.”
Lluna Porta, 46, one of the founders of Mobile-free adolescence, has two sons, Gerard, 20, and Max, 15 and lives in Girona, north-east Spain. Her eldest son now has a phone without access to the internet, she stated.
Porta stated the success of the group had displayn that parental action could bring results. “[Our group] applauds the government’s proposal as it is a measure we have been requesting since this citizens’ shiftment started and which has expanded to more than 40 countries,” she stated.
“It is essential that the ban is accompanied by age verification measures and criminal penalties for technology companies that fail to comply.”
Sánchez has shrugged off strongly worded criticism of Spain’s plans from influential tech executives including the Telegram founder Pavel Durov and Musk.
In a post on X, Musk called Sánchez a “tyrant and a traitor to the people of Spain”.
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Durov claimed in a Telegram message that Spain’s proposed legislation would force social media platforms to gather data on all applyrs and allow governments to control what applyrs see.
The Spanish government accapplyd Durov of “spreading lies” and attempting to undermine democratic institutions. “Spaniards cannot live in a world where foreign tech oligarchs can flood our phones with propaganda at will simply becaapply the government has announced measures to protect minors and enforce the law,” it stated.
Sánchez vowed to press ahead with the ban. “Today, our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone. We will no longer accept that. We will protect them,” he stated. “Democracy will obviously not be swayed by the tech oligarchs of the algorithm.”
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