The way we access information, communicate, and consume content has been transformed by the digital revolution. However, this transformation has also brought new risks: misinformation, illegal content that spreads rapidly, the intensive use of personal data, and a growing lack of transparency in the automated systems that sort and recommend information.
To address this scenario, the Spanish Government has introduced the Draft Law for the Improvement of Democratic Governance in Digital Services and the Regulation of Media Outlets, approved by the Council of Ministers on July 29, 2025.
The main purpose of this regulation is to align Spain’s legal framework with the key European regulations that govern the digital ecosystem:
Until now, the oversight of the digital environment has relied on fragmented rules created before today’s technological reality. This bill aims to update that framework and bring the European principles of due diligence, transparency, and user rights protection into national law.
The bill amends Law 34/2002 on Information Society Services (LSSI) and Law 13/2022, which will be renamed the General Law on Audiovisual and Media Communication to also cover the written press. It also proposes reforms to Law 3/2013, which created the CNMC, in order to expand its powers in the digital and media sectors. In this context, the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) will serve as the Digital Services Coordinator, as laid out in Article 49 of the DSA, with new capabilities to inspect, supervise, and sanction.
To achieve this, a Digital Services Directorate will be established within the agency. This specialized department will be responsible for examining how platforms operate, managing administrative proceedings, and ensuring compliance with DSA obligations. At the same time, the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) will ensure that no advertising based on special categories of personal data is used and that minors are not subject to profiling for commercial purposes.
Companies will be required to demonstrate responsible and transparent behavior online, showing how effective their advertising control systems, user protection mechanisms, and content moderation processes truly are.
Key obligations include:
Failure to comply may lead to sanctions of up to 6% of global annual turnover, as well as provisional measures or service restrictions in the most serious cases.
The bill also focuses on the organization and funding of media outlets by establishing a national registry for media service providers, managed by the CNMC. Media organizations operating at the national level will be required to register and keep updated information on their ultimate beneficial owners, ownership structure, and revenue received from institutional advertising or other public funds, including those originating abroad.
Regional registries coordinated with the national one will also be enabled to offer a more complete view of the media landscape in each territory.
Additionally, the CNMC will take on the task of assessing corporate concentration operations in the sector to evaluate their impact on media pluralism. This oversight will apply particularly to groups exceeding certain audience thresholds or commercial volumes, which will be defined by regulation.
The goal is to bring order to an environment that has evolved for years without a clear regulatory framework. The new law seeks to ensure that digital and technological transformation unfolds under a system of guarantees.
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