Lorraine Williamson
Elon Musk has launched a fresh attack on Spain’s prime minister after Pedro Sánchez unveiled a tougher line on social media, including a proposed ban for under-16s. Musk attacks Pedro Sánchez in a post on X, calling him a “tyrant and traitor to the people of Spain” after the Spanish leader outlined a package aimed at protecting minors online and tightening accountability for platforms.
The clash began at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, where Sánchez argued that social platforms have become a “failed state” and promised to push new safeguards for children. The government’s proposal would require stronger age verification and comes alongside a broader push to curb illegal and harmful content online.
What Sánchez is proposing
The headline measure is straightforward: restricting access to social media for children under 16, with platforms expected to enforce the rule through age checks. Sánchez also signalled tougher consequences for the spread of illegal content and for systems that amplify it.
The plan is expected to be integrated into a minors’ digital protection bill already moving through parliament, though passage is not guaranteed given the government’s fragile numbers in Congress.
Why Musk’s intervention matters
Musk’s response is politically noisy, but it also points to a deeper fight now playing out across Europe: who controls the rules of the online public square, and who pays when platforms fail to prevent harm. Spain is not alone. Other European governments are also pushing stronger child-protection and content rules, even as tech firms and free-speech advocates warn about overreach.
For Sánchez, the backlash is unlikely to change the direction of travel. If anything, it underlines why his government believes age checks and tougher enforcement are becoming unavoidable.
Age verification
The key question is how enforceable the plan will be in practice. Age verification is the sticking point in every country attempting a similar policy, and Spain will face pressure to show how checks can be robust without creating new privacy risks.
Parliamentary arithmetic will matter too. A headline-grabbing row can dominate a news cycle, but legislation lives or dies on votes.