Spain holds the line on social media and AI rules as US tech lobbying intensifies

"“The profit of four tech companies cannot come at the expense of the rights of millions,” López told reporters, citing pressure from “powerful voices” against proposals that would constrain high-risk AI and force platforms to disclose how their recommendation algorithms work."

"In February, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced from the World Government Summit in Dubai that Spain would ban social media for users under 16, an amendment now winding through parliament as part of an existing digital child-protection bill. Sánchez also pledged to criminalise the manipulation of algorithms to amplify illegal content and to hold executives personally liable for failures to remove it."

"Separately, Spain has approved draft legislation curbing AI deepfakes, setting 16 as the age of consent for image use and banning unauthorised AI-generated likenesses in advertising. In February, prosecutors opened a probe into major platforms over AI-generated child sexual abuse material distributed on their services, Al Jazeera reported."

"The regulatory programme sits inside a wider European arc. EU lawmakers struck a political deal in March on amendments to the bloc's AI Act, including a prohibition on non-consensual intimate deepfakes and a delay of the high-risk system deadline to December 2027. Madrid has positioned itself as one of the bloc's more forward-leaning capitals on enforcement."

Madrid will continue with a regulatory package aimed at social media platforms and high-risk artificial intelligence systems. The digital transformation minister said the profit of a small number of tech companies cannot outweigh the rights of millions, citing pressure from powerful voices against constraints on high-risk AI and requirements for platforms to disclose how recommendation algorithms work. Spain is also moving to ban social media use for people under 16 through an amendment in a digital child-protection bill. Spain plans to criminalise algorithm manipulation that amplifies illegal content and to hold executives personally liable for failures to remove it. Spain has approved draft legislation curbing AI deepfakes, setting 16 as the age of consent for image use and banning unauthorised AI-generated likenesses in advertising. Prosecutors have opened a probe into major platforms over AI-generated child sexual abuse material. The national effort aligns with EU measures including a ban on non-consensual intimate deepfakes and a delay of the high-risk AI deadline to December 2027.

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