Ban tech companies from accessing our children

BarcelonaThis week, Pedro Sánchez announced at an international summit in Dubai that he will prohibit "access to social media for minors under 16." The announcement has sparked reactions, so many that even Elon Musk, on X, has labeled Sánchez a true "totalitarian." Musk's reaction is significant because it means the underlying message has gotten through: tech platforms, we will not allow you to make more money at the expense of our children's health and well-being. For me, this is the first message that should be heard everywhere. The second clear message is that we have made a mistake by facilitating indiscriminate access to social media so early, and it is necessary to reverse a situation that has lasted far too long and has more harm than good. We need a cultural shift in our relationship with digital technology. The data on usage time (more than 5 hours a day) and its direct impact on children's development, the average age of first use (11 years old), and the amplification of behaviors such as... cyberbullying (25% in girls and adolescents) or access to inappropriate content (pornography and extreme violence from the age of 10) are urgently needed.

We must bear in mind that the announcement is more of a staged event than anything new. All of this is happening in the context of the processing of a new organic law for the protection of minors in the digital environment, which has been in the works since June 2024 and should be enacted soon. At Mobile-Free Adolescence, we proposed amendments to this law that were precisely in line with what has been announced: if we want to protect minors, effective age verification measures and criminal penalties for companies that do not comply are necessary. Beyond the possible electoral opportunism and publicity stunt of Sánchez's announcement, which may be more or less well-received, are we capable of seeing that we have been letting tech companies do whatever they want with the privacy, data, and aspirations of minors for years? Social media is the gateway for inappropriate content that we would never allow in the real world. Casino doors have security guards who prevent entry unless you show ID. Isn't it obvious that we should do exactly the same in the digital environment?

We're not naive, and we know this is technologically difficult, that it comes at a price, and that it could change how we understand our online presence. An anonymous digital ID that only allows age verification, or using trusted third parties to perform these verifications, would be possible solutions. We'll have to wait and see how the verification mechanisms currently being analyzed by the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) and the European Commission work. And at all times, we must demand that they guarantee full respect for data privacy. The precedents in Australia and France should also serve as lessons. Some believe, perhaps rightly so, that the measure is an excuse to control everything citizens do online. We cannot know the true intentions behind this. What is clear is that the current situation is unsustainable.

This is not about denying digital technology.

We are facing a cultural shift in our relationship with digital technology. We understand very clearly that it's not about rejecting it, but about putting it in its proper place. A law alone doesn't solve anything, but it does push in the direction many desire. The number of families who have legitimately decided to postpone the introduction of mobile phones and social media into their children's lives for two or three years are deeply grateful to be able to use a powerful argument in the face of social pressure: "There's a law that doesn't allow it, and we won't break the law."

This is not a blind defense of the current measure, nor of the government promoting it. There will surely be mistakes. But it is a call to action, emphasizing the need to move beyond the false dichotomy between prohibition and education. Both are necessary: ​​we need much more training, awareness campaigns, and guides for a healthy introduction to digital technology, but we also need sound laws and limitations to prevent the harm caused by the current unfettered situation. These will be initial, clumsy measures, but they are ones we must explore. In fact, if there's one thing we can criticize Sánchez for, it's that the announcement should never have been about "prohibiting minors from accessing social media," but rather that what some of us really want is to prohibit our children from accessing these platforms.