His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, attended the main address delivered by His Excellency Pedro Sánchez, Prime Minister of Spain, on the first day of the World Governments Summit 2026. The Summit, which commenced today, runs for three days under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments’. 

The session was attended by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of the UAE, and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Crown Prince of Fujairah; and His Highness Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, Crown Prince of Ajman.

During his address, His Excellency Pedro Sánchez said that during his eight-year tenure as prime minister, he has “defended the same vision of the world: a vision where peace comes first, where people are at the centre of the economy, and where progress doesn’t come at the expense of the most vulnerable or the planet.”

He added: “That vision has not changed in all these years, but the world has changed drastically and for the worse, not only in the physical world of economies, borders and institutions, but also in the digital world we have built.”

The session was also attended by His Highness Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, First Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance of the UAE; His Highness Lieutenant General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior; His Highness Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of the UAE National Olympic Committee; Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority; His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum; His Excellency Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and Chairman of the World Governments Summit Organisation; along with a number of ministers and senior officials.

His Excellency Sánchez detailed five major measures that his government will start to implement to mitigate the dangers of social media and protect future generations.

He said the government will amend the tech laws to hold platform executives legally accountable for infringements that take place on their sites, including failures to remove illegal or hateful content. 

Spain will turn algorithmic manipulation and the amplification of illegal content into a new criminal offence, and will also implement a hate and polarisation footprint, a system designed to track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate. HE Sánchez said this will involve developing a tool that will provide a basis for imposing future penalties on platforms found to be in violation.

Another action will be banning access to social media for minors under the age of 16, requiring platforms to implement age verification systems to protect children from environments of addiction, violence, abuse, and manipulation.

The Prime Minister of Spain noted that his government will work with the public prosecutor to investigate and pursue infringements committed by certain digital platforms. These measures, he said, aim to “turn social media into the healthy and democratic space it should be.”

His Excellency Sánchez said that digital governance lies at the heart of “the values of good governance and balanced progress that define this unique forum.” He added that digital governance “is a problem that no country can face alone.”

Calling for collective action, he said: “Let’s choose governance over resignation, cooperation over fragmentation, and responsibility over silence. No more pretending that technology is neutral.”

During his address, he also highlighted the “outstanding” performance of the Spanish economy, which grew by 2.8% in 2025, almost twice the European Union average. Spain’s GDP has exceeded $2 trillion, creating almost 600,000 jobs last year, which account for half of the employment growth in the EU.

The World Governments Summit 2026 brings together more than 60 heads of state and government and their deputies, over 500 ministers, and more than 150 governments. It also convenes more than 80 international and regional organisations and global institutions, and over 700 chief executive officers of leading global institutions and companies, in addition to more than 6,250 attendees.