Forum Future - Spain's Proposed Social Media Law

[Carl]

Earlier this month, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced plans to ban children under 16 from accessing social media to protect them from "digital wild west" risks, joining nations like Australia. Social media includes torrevieja.org.uk and other similar forums.

Key proposals include strict age verification, criminal liability for tech executives over harmful content, and regulating algorithmic amplification.

Key Aspects of Spain's Proposed Social Media Laws (2026):

- Age Restriction: A proposed ban on social media access for minors under 16 years old.

- Mandatory Age Verification: The government plans to enforce strict age verification systems to ensure compliance with the under-16 ban.

- Executive Accountability: Tech company executives could face criminal liability for failing to remove illegal, hateful, or harmful content.

- Algorithm Regulation: The proposals seek to criminalize the "algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content".

- "Hate Footprint": Development of a system to track and expose platforms that amplify harmful content.

- International Coordination: Spain is working with other European nations to create stricter, harmonized, and faster enforcement of these regulations.

Context and Controversy:

The initiative, heavily influenced by mounting evidence of health harms to children, is part of a broader crackdown on platforms like TikTok and X (formerly Twitter). The proposed measures have faced criticism, including warnings from Telegram CEO Pavel Durov that mandatory age checks could erode user anonymity. The proposals are still awaiting parliamentary approval.

Currently the two issues that will or may affect, this forum's future and others similar in nature, if the proposals go through as announced are Mandatory Age Vertification and Executive Accountability. The biggest threat to the forum is the Mandatory Age Verification.

The Mandatory Age Verification moves away from the self-declaration of age through a simple checkbox. The proposal focuses on using W3C Verifiable Credentials, Digital Identity Wallets, and local, on-device processing to confirm age without storing personal data or tracking users. One aim of Sanchez's proposal is that the age verification will also be compatible with the European Digital Identity Wallet set be unveiled later this year.

As it stands at the moment, the software behind this forum does not currently support such a stringent age verification system. The use of a third-party age verification service is possible, but the recurring monthly costs are prohibitive. No suitable solution for this forum currently exists to meet Spain's Mandatory Age Verification requirements.

On the subject of Executive Accountability, it should be obvious to most members that I am not a tech company executive, albeit that it would appear that I could become one under Sanchez's proposal, and become criminally liable for not removing inappropriate or illegal content from the forum.

In due course I can envisage that all forums in Spain will be classed as a business and require appropriate registration irrespective of their intended purpose or operation, simply to make it easier for Spain to manage and regulate the social media law. This forum for a number of reasons is just not suitable for transitioning to a business, if that is the direction the Spanish Government takes.

[Brandyboy]

We can only wait for parliament. I can understand it with Facebook and Tik Tok etc, but forums like this provide a valuable service and are of no interest to children over 16 let alone under.

[Sheff_Blade]

Nanny-state once again!

It makes you wonder how we have all lived to be the old gimmers that we are. Or is that just me?

[gail]

This forum would be missed by many, both those who contribute and those who just look for advice. I know how helpful people's comments and suggestions have over the years.

[Carl]

As we know from other proposals announced by the Spanish Government (or even Governments in other countries) over the years, deadlines or proposed implementation dates are rarely ever met, and things may be no further forward this time next year.

Proposals tend to be made with great fanfare, but once detailed discussions take place afterwards it highlights issues that were not contemplated at the time of announcement and sometimes revisions to proposals have to be made to accomodate situations not factored in.

[Brunski]

This is going to be a nightmare to enforce although Phpbb does support COPPA (CHILDREN'S ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ) and by IP address is US IP address