00:00Spain says it will press ahead with new rules to make social media and artificial intelligence safer, despite pushback from
00:07major tech companies.
00:09Now, in an interview with Reuters, Spain's Digital Transformation Minister Oscar Lopez said the proposed measures could limit high-risk
00:17AI systems and force social media firms to reveal how their algorithms work.
00:25His comments echoed those by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who on Tuesday said the Commission was targeting
00:32addictive and harmful design practices by social media firms in its upcoming Digital Fairness Act.
00:38Amid similar moves by Australia, France or even Greece, Spain in February announced plans to ban social media use by
00:46teenagers, with a bill already working its way through Parliament and adopt legislation holding executives personally responsible for hate speech
00:55on their platforms.
00:57The move provoked sharp criticism from ex-platform owner Elon Musk.
01:01Lopez said Spain wanted a common European approach as rules are easier to enforce across the block of more than
01:09400 million citizens than country by country and warned that backers of a laissez-faire approach would one day regret
01:16defending the law of the jungle.
01:18He linked the push to growing concern over cyberbullying, sexual harassment and AI-generated sexual deepfakes targeting children, especially girls,
01:27describing the impact on minors as a mental health pandemic.
01:31Spain has positioned itself as one of Europe's most vocal advocates for what Lopez called trustworthy AI, a model he
01:39said should protect privacy, democracy, minors and public safety, rather than prioritize speed or profit.
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