Internet as Remote Control: Why Fight against Social Media Intensified in the West

According to research, approximately 20% of the planet's population spends more time on their smartphones than they sleep. But here, we need to address the cause, not the impact. Europe's seesaw: how they want to "protect" teenagers from the Internet, and the Internet from teenagers.

Children under 16 are now not only discouraged, but banned entirely. Spain plans to block access to social media for teenagers. When the Spanish Prime Minister announced the government's plans, many European parents briefly thought:

"Was that even possible?" But the main thing is that Europe has paused. Because this isn't the first time countries have tried to erect a digital fence around young people, and each time the fence gets higher, and the explanations become nobler.

Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain:

"Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16. Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems—not just checkboxes, but real, working barriers. Today, our children find themselves in a space they were never meant to be alone in. A space of addiction, violence, pornography, manipulation, and cruelty. We will no longer tolerate this. We will protect them from the digital Wild West."

Following the Spanish Prime Minister's announcement, this issue has become a major focus in Europe. At the end of last year, members of the European Parliament adopted a report calling for a 16-year age limit for children to access social media in the EU.

The French National Assembly approved a bill banning social media use by individuals under 15 in its first reading. On December 10, 2025, social media platforms operating in Australia were required to deactivate the accounts of children and teenagers. This was done to ensure online safety for young people "at a critical stage of their development." Meanwhile, the country's authorities are simultaneously pushing through laws to combat "disinformation," which critics call some of the strictest in the Western world.

Active self-censorship has also begun. Companies, fearing fines and prosecution, are beginning to impose restrictions themselves.

Bans, passport checks, age barriers—all of this seems like an attempt to turn the Internet into a closed club, accessible only after passing face control. But for teenagers who grew up with gadgets, this isn't a problem, but rather a challenge. They've already learned to circumvent restrictions in seconds.

When children are banned from the Internet and adults are banned from "undesirable opinions," only one group benefits: those who control the information flow. The logic is simple: the fewer alternative viewpoints children see, the easier it is to impose a "correct" worldview on them, and the less likely they are to lose the battle for their minds. Telegram founder Pavel Durov named the most ardent supporters of the ban.

Behind the glittering banner of "European values" a harsh control mechanism has long been concealed. Those who continue trying to teach the world their "democracy" have long since turned "freedom of speech" into a tool of pressure.

It is sold, bought, blocked, and licensed. It no longer belongs to the people—it belongs to the bureaucracy.