Online safety & content laws in Spain (2026)
Online safety rules in Spain: comprehensive law.
As an EU member state, Spain is bound by the directly-applicable Digital Services Act, a comprehensive content-moderation and online-safety regime that already imposes notice-and-action, transparency, illegal-content and minor-protection duties on platforms operating in Spain. However, Spain has not completed its national implementation: the CNMC was designated Digital Services Coordinator in January 2024 but Congress has repeatedly failed to pass the law granting it the inspection and sanctioning powers the DSA requires, prompting a European Commission infringement procedure. A pioneering Organic Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environments (raising the social-media age and mandating age verification) has been approved as a government bill but is still being debated in Congress and is not yet in force.
Legal framework
EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, directly applicable since 17 Feb 2024) as the baseline online-safety/content-moderation regime, complemented nationally by the Audiovisual Communication Law (Ley 13/2022) and the LSSI-CE; the CNMC is the designated Digital Services Coordinator. National DSA implementing legislation and a dedicated minors-protection organic law remain pending.
The Digital Services Act in Spain
In Spain, online platforms and intermediaries are governed by the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), a directly-applicable regulation covering illegal content, transparency and user protection.
- Framework
- the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065)
- Approach
- notice-and-action on illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms, and protection of minors
- Applies to
- online intermediaries, hosting services and platforms offering services to users in Spain, wherever established
- Very large platforms
- platforms and search engines with 45M+ EU users face extra systemic-risk audits, overseen by the European Commission
- Maximum fine
- up to 6% of global annual turnover
- Oversight
- the national Digital Services Coordinator, plus the European Commission for very large platforms
The DSA is an EU regulation applied directly in Spain; the national Digital Services Coordinator handles day-to-day supervision.
Key points: internet & online safety in Spain
EU DSA is the in-force baseline
The Digital Services Act applies directly in Spain since 17 February 2024, setting comprehensive obligations on intermediaries and platforms (illegal-content notice-and-action, transparency reporting, risk mitigation for VLOPs, and protection of minors), enforced for the largest platforms directly by the European Commission.
CNMC designated as Digital Services Coordinator
National implementing law stalled; EU infringement
Spain has not enacted the legislation needed to grant the CNMC the full DSA enforcement powers; a PSOE-backed bill was defeated in Congress in April 2026, and the European Commission opened an infringement procedure (reasoned opinion December 2024) over Spain's failure to fully apply the DSA.
Minors-protection organic law (still a bill)
The Organic Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environments, raising the data-consent/social-media access age to 16, reforming the Criminal Code, and updating audiovisual rules, was approved by the Council of Ministers and sent to Congress as a Proyecto de Ley (25 March 2025); it remained in committee with amendments through late 2025 and is not yet enacted.
Age verification / age assurance
Spain has been a frontrunner on online age verification, publishing a technical specification for an age-assurance system and contributing its digital-wallet (Cartera Digital Beta) as a pilot for the EU's white-label age-verification app; mandatory age verification will become binding once the minors law passes, while privacy oversight rests with the AEPD.
Audiovisual content & competent authorities
Online audiovisual and video-sharing platforms are also covered by the General Audiovisual Communication Law (Ley 13/2022, transposing the EU AVMSD), supervised by the CNMC, while the AEPD handles data protection, creating a split competent-authority structure for online content and safety.
The Digital Services Act in Spain: FAQ
Does the Digital Services Act apply in Spain?
Yes. As an EU member, Spain is covered by the EU Digital Services Act (Regulation (EU) 2022/2065), which applies directly.
What does the DSA require of platforms in Spain?
Notice-and-action mechanisms for illegal content, transparency reporting, clear terms of service, and measures to protect minors.
Who enforces the DSA in Spain?
The national Digital Services Coordinator, with the European Commission supervising very large online platforms and search engines.
What are the penalties under the DSA in Spain?
Up to 6% of a provider's global annual turnover for serious breaches.
Timeline of decisions
- Law · officialCongress Greenlights Processing of Organic Law for Minors in Digital Environments
Spain's Congress approved advancing the Organic Law for the protection of minors in digital environments, rejecting a blocking amendment from Vox. The bill raises the minimum social-media registration age from 14 to 16, requires privacy-preserving age verification via Spain's Cartera Digital Beta credential, and criminalises AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Ministerio de la Presidencia (Spain)
- Law · officialCouncil of Ministers Approves Organic Law Draft on Minors in Digital Environments
The Spanish Cabinet gave its second approval to the landmark child-online-protection bill, banning under-16s from social media without explicit parental consent, mandating platform content-classification labels, and requiring terminal manufacturers to provide free parental controls, marking the most comprehensive child online safety legislation in Spain's history.
La Moncloa (Spanish Government)
- Law · officialGovernment Approves Draft Digital Governance Law Transposing DSA and AVMSD
The Council of Ministers approved a draft law formally incorporating EU Regulation 2022/2065 (DSA) and Regulation 2024/1083 (European Media Freedom Act) into Spanish law, reinforcing CNMC supervisory powers with fines up to 6 % of global turnover and creating a national audiovisual media registry.
Ministry for Digital Transformation and Public Services (MTDFP)
- Law · officialEU Digital Services Act Enters Full Application, All Platforms Now Covered
Following its phased rollout, the DSA became fully applicable to all in-scope intermediary services in the EU, extending content-moderation transparency, illegal-content reporting, and algorithmic accountability obligations beyond VLOPs to medium and small platforms serving Spanish and EU users.
European Commission – Digital Strategy
- Decision · officialCNMC Formally Designated as Spain's DSA Digital Services Coordinator
Spain's Ministry for Digital Transformation officially appointed the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) as the national Digital Services Coordinator, making it the single contact point for DSA compliance supervision, cross-border cooperation with other EU DSCs, and user-complaint escalation.
CNMC (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia)
- Law · officialDSA Tier-1 Obligations Take Effect for 19 Designated Very Large Online Platforms
Four months after the Commission's April 2023 designation of 17 VLOPs and 2 VLOSEs, including Google, Meta, TikTok and Twitter/X, the DSA's strictest obligations entered force: systemic risk assessments, independent annual audits, algorithmic transparency and researcher data-access provisions directly protecting Spanish users.
European Commission – Digital Strategy
- Law · officialGeneral Law of Audiovisual Communication (Law 13/2022) Published in BOE
Spain's Ley 13/2022 overhauled audiovisual regulation to cover streaming VOD services, video-sharing platforms and commercial influencers, imposing registration with a national audiovisual registry, child-protection labelling, advertising disclosure rules, and mandatory reporting channels for illegal content, transposing the EU AVMSD into Spanish law.
BOE – Boletín Oficial del Estado
- Law · officialLaw 34/2002 (LSSI-CE) Enacted, Spain's Foundational Internet Services and E-Commerce Law
The Ley de Servicios de la Sociedad de la Información y de Comercio Electrónico transposed the EU E-Commerce Directive 2000/31/EC, establishing liability safe harbours for intermediaries, mandatory provider identification and information requirements, and a framework for courts and administrative bodies to order blocking of illegal online content, the cornerstone of Spanish internet regulation for two decades.
WIPO Lex
Sources
- commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/europe-fit-digital-age/digit
- cnmc.es/en/sectores-que-regulamos/servicios-digitales-dsa
- cnmc.es/prensa/coordinador-servicios-digitales-20240124
- merlin.obs.coe.int/article/9980
- digitalpolicyalert.org/change/8679-spain-digital-services-coordinator-designation
- mjusticia.gob.es/es/institucional/gabinete-comunicacion/noticias-ministerio/APLO-prote
- congreso.es/es/proyectos-de-ley?p_p_id=iniciativas&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=norm
- lamoncloa.gob.es/lang/en/gobierno/news/paginas/2025/20250618-social-media-age-verifica
- cnmc.es/en/sectores-que-regulamos/servicios-digitales-dsa/reglamento/
- yoti.com/blog/age-assurance-spain-online-safety-organic-law/
- taylorwessing.com/en/interface/2025/online-safety-update/childrens-online-safety-in-spa
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Next topicOrientation, not legal advice: verify against the primary sources linked above. Last verified 25 May 2026. Methodology & how to cite · State of Technology Regulation 2026