The EU executive on Thursday expressed support for Spain after Telegram founder Pavel Durov slammed Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez over his plan to ban social media for children.<\/p>\n
“We stand in solidarity with the member states trying to hold online platforms accountable,” European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier told AFP.<\/p>\n
“This is a top priority for the commission as well,” Regnier added in a statement.<\/p>\n
“Online platforms offer a lot of benefits, which our citizens can best enjoy when we mitigate certain risks,” he said.<\/p>\n
Telegram founder Pavel Durov joined fellow tech tycoon Elon Musk in criticising Sanchez, speaking of “dangerous new regulations that threaten your internet freedoms” in a post on his Telegram messaging app on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Sanchez pushed back on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“Do we want a technology that normalises and amplifies deception? That transforms privacy into a commodity? A society where a techno-oligarch can interfere, as one of them did yesterday, in the mobile phones of millions of citizens to tell them lies?” he asked.<\/p>\n
“The answer must be a clear no, and we will not give in,” Sanchez said.<\/p>\n
Telegram has an estimated billion users and is known for its privacy features.<\/p>\n
Musk had reacted to Sanchez’s announcement with a string of posts on his social media platform X on Tuesday, calling him “the true fascist totalitarian”.<\/p>\n
The Spanish plan comes after France’s lower house of parliament passed a bill last month that would ban social media use by under-15s.<\/p>\n
It still needs senate approval to become law.<\/p>\n
Brussels is mulling an EU-wide ban after pressure from member states but first wants to hear from an expert panel currently being set up.<\/p>\n
Regnier, however, insisted the EU held “online platforms accountable” and “we protect our children” with its content law known as the Digital Services Act.<\/p>\n
“We will keep working closely with our member states to make the online environment in Europe safe, transparent and trustworthy,” the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
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