Mexico’s president recently issued a decree for online platforms: the Decree on Safe Digital Environments for Children and Adolescents. It cites the Mexican General Law on the Rights of Children and Adolescents, and its recognition that young people have a right to “safe access to the Internet.” The decree gives covered platforms until November 13, 2026 (i.e., 30 days from its effective date of October 14, 2026) to report on the steps they have taken to comply with the decree.
The decree applies to digital platforms, like social media networks, video games, and app stores. Specifically, the decree defines a digital platform as digital service that permit users to interact, communicate, and share with each other. And, whose purpose is to provide (inter alia) goods, services, or content. Under the decree, covered platforms must, among other things:
- Verify users’ ages. As we have seen in US states, including most recently California, covered platforms cannot simply rely on a user’s self-identified age. The age verification measures implemented must be, according to the decree, both reliable and secure.
- Not allow children or adolescents to access harmful content. Harmful content includes cyberbullying, hate speech, user-to-user content that incites violence, and more. Relatedly, covered platforms will need age classifications to help support the block of harmful content by young people.
- Allow parental supervision. The decree states that covered platforms must establish mechanisms for parents and guardians to supervise their minors’ accounts.
- Take a safety-by-design approach. Part of this includes having accounts set to the most secure setting at creation, conducting periodic risk assessments, and taking reasonable steps to prevent or minimize identified risks.
- Remove accounts that provide harmful content to minors. If accounts are removed covered platforms will need to keep digital evidence of the platform for at least 90 days.
The decree provides for mental health programs to be designed and implemented by the Mexican Ministry of Health, and for that agency to also provide support to parents and caregivers. The Ministry of Public Education has been tasked with coordinating with schools.
Putting it Into Practice. This decree is another reminder of the focus legislators and other government authorities are placing on children’s online safety. Companies who interact with minors online at an international level may want to use this decree as the basis for reviewing the extent to which their compliance approach is sufficiently adaptable that it can address these ongoing developments.