European governments are stepping up efforts to rein in major tech platforms in what has become one of the most consequential regulatory battles between authorities and Silicon Valley giants in recent memory, with a wave of proposed social media restrictions and a dramatic law-enforcement action in France thrusting the continent into the global spotlight.
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez reaffirmed his government’s commitment to outlawing social media access for people under the age of 16, rejecting fierce criticism from industry leaders including Elon Musk and Telegram founder Pavel Durov. Sánchez insisted that protecting young people from addictive and harmful online content was a priority that outweighed objections from powerful tech executives, saying Madrid would not be “swayed by tech oligarchs.” His proposals also aim to make platform executives legally accountable for hate speech and other unlawful material on their services, a move that has drawn accusations of overreach from critics who warn of censorship and privacy concerns.
The Spanish initiative is part of a broader push across the European Union and the United Kingdom that sees a growing number of countries exploring similar restrictions. Legislators in France have already taken steps to ban social media use by children under 15, with President Emmanuel Macron and lawmakers arguing that early exposure to digital platforms fuels screen addiction, bullying, and other social harms. France’s National Assembly passed a bill endorsing the measure, which is now headed to the Senate.
Despite these national efforts, Brussels has urged caution, with European Commission officials saying that additional national obligations on platforms could conflict with the EU’s overarching Digital Services Act, which already sets continent-wide rules aimed at protecting minors and curbing illegal content. The Commission has stressed that it wants uniform protections for all Europeans rather than a patchwork of national laws.
Against this backdrop of heated regulation, French authorities executed a high-profile raid on the Paris headquarters of X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk. Prosecutors from the Paris public prosecutor’s cybercrime unit, with assistance from Europol, searched X’s offices as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged criminal offenses linked to the platform’s operations. The probe, which was expanded after concerns about algorithmic manipulation and Musk’s Grok artificial intelligence tool arose, now includes alleged distribution of illegal content, sexually explicit deepfakes involving minors, Holocaust denial posts, and fraudulent data practices. Musk and former X CEO Linda Yaccarino have been summoned for voluntary questioning in Paris in April.
X has vigorously denounced the raid, calling it politically motivated and an infringement on free speech, and accusing French authorities of misusing child protection as justification for undue censorship. Pavel Durov joined the chorus of tech voices condemning the action, framing it as a broader campaign against digital freedom.
The escalating confrontation highlights deepening tensions between European regulators and global technology companies. While policymakers argue that stronger measures are necessary to protect citizens, particularly minors, from harmful digital content and to ensure accountability for powerful platforms, tech leaders paint the moves as threats to innovation, privacy, and free expression. With the debate intensifying across capitals from Madrid to Paris and Brussels, the outcome of these policy clashes could reshape the future of social media governance not just in Europe but worldwide.
