Spain advances law to protect minors in digital environments
Efforts to create safer online spaces continue as Spain advances landmark legislation.
Spain’s Minister for Youth and Children, Sira Rego, has said she expects the country’s Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environments to be approved by Congress in autumn 2026.
Rego said the bill responds to growing social concern over children’s safety online and the need to regulate digital spaces more effectively.
The bill is currently moving through the Congress of Deputies. Rego said Spain would have a pioneering law to regulate digital environments and that major platforms must take greater responsibility for practices that are especially harmful to children and adolescents.
The proposed law draws on recommendations from a 50-member expert committee convened by the Ministry of Youth and Children. The government says the framework is intended to strengthen the rights of minors in digital spaces, including privacy, reputation, image rights, access to truthful information and responsible technology use.
Measures in the bill include mandatory parental control systems for mobile devices, rules on loot boxes in video games and on platforms, and requirements for schools to regulate the use of mobile phones and digital devices.
The proposal would also introduce criminal law changes covering digital violence. These include penalties restricting aggressors from contacting victims online, offences linked to making pornography indiscriminately available to minors, and criminalisation of sexual or seriously degrading deepfakes.
Large audiovisual service providers and major influencers would also be required to provide reporting channels for inappropriate content, inform users about content that may harm minors, use effective age verification systems and separate pornographic or violent content from other material.
Why does it matter?
Spain’s proposal reflects a wider shift towards stronger child online safety regulation, moving beyond awareness campaigns towards legal duties for platforms, device makers, schools and digital service providers. The bill also shows how child protection debates are expanding from harmful content to design features, age assurance, deepfakes, loot boxes and digital violence. If adopted, it could become one of Europe’s more comprehensive national frameworks for protecting minors online.
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