Spain has become the newest and most aggressive front in the global war between national governments and Big Tech. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has ignited
a firestorm by targeting the world’s most powerful platform owners, proposing a radical crackdown to tame what he calls the “digital Wild West.”
Protecting the youngest users
At the heart of the conflict is Sánchez’s ambitious plan to ban social media for anyone under the age of 16. While current industry standards (like those on TikTok and Facebook) generally set the bar at 13, the Spanish leader argues that children need a stronger shield against the psychological and criminal risks of the internet.
Beyond the age limit, Sánchez intends to hold platform executives personally responsible for harmful or illegal content hosted on their sites, a move that strikes at the very core of the “hands-off” business model favoured by many tech giants.
Musk vs Sánchez
The reaction from tech billionaires was swift and vitriolic. Elon Musk, the owner of X (formerly Twitter), escalated the tension this week by labelling Sánchez a “true fascist totalitarian” in response to the proposed regulations. Musk’s critique frames the laws not as child protection, but as an assault on free speech and individual liberty.
Telegram’s direct intervention
The dispute took an unprecedented turn when Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, used his own app to send a mass notification directly to every user in Spain. In his message, Durov accused the Spanish government of pushing “dangerous” regulations that would transform the country into a “surveillance state” disguised as a safety initiative.
The government strikes back
The Spanish administration was quick to condemn Durov’s move. Government sources described the mass messaging as a historic and “illegitimate” attack, accusing a “foreign tech oligarch” of using his unrestricted control over communication to flood citizens’ phones with propaganda.
“Spaniards cannot live in a world where foreign tech oligarchs can flood our phones with propaganda at will simply because the government has announced measures to protect minors and enforce the law.”
What’s at stake?
The battle in Spain is more than just a policy debate; it is a fundamental clash over sovereignty. On one side, the Spanish government is attempting to treat social media as a regulated public utility to protect minors. On the other hand, tech leaders like Musk and Durov see these moves as the beginning of state-controlled internet censorship.
