Just a day after he was castigated on social media for having ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Elon Musk is being slammed for calling Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez a “tyrant” after Spain announced plans to restrict social media access under 16 and tighten controls on hateful and harmful online content.
The exchange began after Sánchez said his government was preparing measures that would ban social media use for children under 16 and increase accountability for technology companies. Speaking this week, the Spanish prime minister said action was required to protect minors from what he described as a “digital wild west”.
“Social media is a failed state where laws are ignored and crimes are tolerated,” Sánchez said, arguing that governments could no longer allow children to navigate online platforms without safeguards.
Musk, the owner of X, responded on the platform by posting: “Dirty Sánchez is a tyrant and a traitor to the people of Spain.”
Sánchez also criticised Musk for using X to “amplify disinformation” related to Spain’s decision last week to regularise the status of around 500,000 undocumented workers and asylum seekers. He noted that Musk himself was a migrant.
Spain’s proposal comes amid a shift across Europe toward stricter regulation of social media platforms. Greece is preparing to announce a ban on social media use for children under 15. Britain and France are also considering similar measures, while Australia last year became the first country to block access to social media platforms for children under 16.
Sánchez said Spain was working with five other European countries in what he called a “coalition of the digitally willing” to coordinate regulation across borders. His office did not name the countries or provide further details.
At the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Sánchez said: “Our children are exposed to a space they were never meant to navigate alone. We will no longer accept that. We will protect them from the digital wild west.”
The debate has intensified following scrutiny of Musk’s artificial intelligence chatbot, Grok, developed by his startup xAI and integrated into X. Researchers said the tool generated an estimated three million sexualised images over an 11-day period after the rollout of an image editing feature that allowed users to alter images of real people using text prompts.
According to a report by the Center for Countering Digital Hate, around 23,000 of the images appeared to depict children. The report said the images were generated at an average rate of 190 per minute. It did not specify how many images were created without consent.
Several countries moved to ban Grok following the outcry. Sánchez said Spanish prosecutors would explore possible legal infractions linked to Grok, as well as platforms including TikTok and Instagram.
The issue has also triggered developments in France, where prosecutors confirmed that the French headquarters of X had been raided by the Paris cybercrime unit as part of an investigation into alleged cybercrime. Prosecutors said Musk and X’s former chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, had been summoned for voluntary questioning. Yaccarino resigned from the company last year.
Musk responded to the raid by calling it “a political attack”.
Online reaction to Musk’s remarks about the Spanish prime minister was swift. One user wrote: “Why would Elon Musk oppose banning minors from social media, where they’re clearly unsafe and more vulnerable? Oh wait…” Another said: “Dirty? Sánchez is not on Epstein’s list, you are.”
A third comment read: “Literally not one negative point by the Spanish PM. Yet Musk calls him a tyrant because his criminal activity is being threatened.” A Spain-based user posted: “I’m in Spain, we mostly think you’re the tyrant.”
Other reactions questioned Musk’s role in shaping debate. “Why does Elon condone fuelling hate, misinformation and divisiveness, and against protecting children from its effects?” one user asked, while another wrote: “And what gives you the right to speak on behalf of the Spanish people?”
