Dubai, Feb. 4 -- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Tuesday (local time) announced that his government plans to ban children under 16 from accessing social media platforms, citing concerns about online safety and harmful digital content, Politico reported.

Speaking at the World Government Summit in Dubai, Sanchez said social media companies would be required to introduce robust age-verification mechanisms to enforce the restriction.

"Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems--not just check boxes, but real barriers that work," he said, as quoted by Politico, adding that children are currently exposed to a digital environment they are not meant to "navigate alone."

The proposed measure is expected t...