Spain’s left-wing government has announced a bill expanding the requirement to publish corrections to posts by digital platforms and social media in an attempt to combat misinformation.
The rapid development of social media in recent years has allowed new players to reach a larger audience, but has raised concerns about a lack of regulation and the spread of fake news.
Influencers will now legally have to publish corrections or retractions, give the affected party a right of reply to state their version of the facts, and if they have uploaded information from a platform or media outlet that has subsequently been corrected, they will have to inform them.
They will also now increase the time limit for requesting a correction of published material from seven days to 10 days.
Spanish Justice Minister Felix Bolaños said:
“It is necessary to guarantee that the rights of any citizen are protected from interference, misinformation and distorted and inaccurate information published in the media or disseminated by particularly relevant users on social networks and digital platforms.”
This is not the first time the executive branch has regulated the obligations of influencers. From June 2024, those content creators who earn more than €300,000 a year through social media and have one million followers in one network or more than two million in aggregate across different networks must comply with the same advertising obligations as regular media.
