The Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has announced that the government wants to approve a law to prevent minors from accessing pornographic content online. It is, to date, the most important step forward in a political debate that has been growing ever louder in recent months, and in which the European Association for Digital Transition has been involved from the start.
Sánchez, in an interview on Radio Nacional de España, spoke about a “genuine epidemic” and “horrifying” data, such as that one in four children under the age of twelve has had or has access to porn, and that almost half of children under age fifteen view it. Unfortunately, he isn’t exaggerating. And we know that access to porn at such an early age has consequences, because it encourages the objectification of women, decreases empathy, trivializes sexual relationships and distorts the perception of sexuality, their own and that of others.
But, as Sánchez confirmed in an interview with the newspaper El País, the political offensive goes beyond minors’ access to pornography. When facing the online activity of children and adolescents there are many more issues to deal with, such as cyberbullying, the use of their data for commercial purposes and very little transparency, mental health problems that can lead to abusive use of social networks, the need to educate parents, etc. To address all these issues, the Spanish government is planning two interdisciplinary groups, one inter-ministerial with Justice, Equality and Education; and another expert group from the Ministry of Youth and Children, in which the European Association for Digital Transition is already participating.
A transversal issue
We agree with Sanchez’s diagnosis on the need for an interdisciplinary strategy. This is because we are talking about related but different issues, which fall, keeping to what has been outlined by the government, to different Ministries, such as Equality, Education, Health, Youth and Children, etc. Many of these issues are in turn the jurisdiction of the different Spanish autonomous regions, such as the possibility of prohibiting the use of mobile phones in schools. And, if we focus on regulation, the key lies in the European Union, and especially in the Digital Services Act. Finally, it remains to be seen whether the development of certain aspects of the Organic Law on the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents from Violence – the Lopivi (in its Spanish acronym), known as the ‘Rhodes Law’, adopted in 2021 and perhaps a missed opportunity in the digital realm – will help to address the problems.
In short, we are facing a very complex challenge. This is why we believe that our proposal for a state pact – launched in June after reaching agreement on its fifteen proposals with Dale Una Vuelta, Fundación ANAR, iCmedia, Save The Children and UNICEF, and which has the support of 150 associations and institutional affiliation from the Spanish Data Protection Agency, the Attorney General’s Office and the National Commission on Markets and Competition – is the perfect base from which to work when facing the political process that is opening up.
We need agreements, laws that go beyond partisan struggles and, at the same time, to confront the problems bravely, holding those responsible accountable. I t is not easy, but the alternative is unviable: We need to protect a vulnerable population, which is exactly what minors are, from the toxicity of the misuse of the internet and social networks. If we don’t, as a society we will all pay.
