Mexico is moving to require social media and other digital platforms to protect children and teenagers from violent, sexual and other harmful content, adding Latin America’s second-largest economy to the growing global push for stronger online child-safety rules.
President Claudia Sheinbaum announced the presidential decree after a deadly attack at a high school in the northern state of Coahuila renewed concerns over young people’s exposure to violent online material.
Digital platforms will be given one month to comply. The government has warned that if companies fail to follow the requirements, it could pursue legislation allowing penalties to be imposed.
Officials have already discussed the measures with representatives of Meta, Microsoft, Apple, TikTok, Google, X and Huawei.
FCRF Launches CP-FRM to Build India’s Next Generation of Fraud Risk Professionals
Platforms Face Wider Responsibility for Harmful Content
The decree covers more than traditional social media companies.
It applies to digital services that allow users to communicate, interact, generate, distribute or share content.
Platforms will be expected to prevent children and teenagers from being exposed to or recommended material promoting hate speech, violent extremism, sexual abuse or exploitation, suicide, deliberate self-harm and eating disorders.
The requirements also cover school violence, harassment, cyberbullying, unlawful activity and sexually explicit material.
Mexico wants companies to address those risks through the way platforms are designed, rather than relying only on users or parents to report harmful posts after they appear.
Services will be expected to identify and remove accounts or content promoting violence, classify material according to age and provide tools allowing parents or guardians to supervise younger users.
Privacy and safety settings for minors should also be switched to their most protective level by default.
This approach reflects an important change in online regulation.
Governments are increasingly arguing that platforms should not merely respond after harmful material reaches children. Their algorithms, recommendation systems and default settings should be designed to reduce the chances of that exposure happening in the first place.
Platforms May Have to Preserve Evidence for Police
The Mexican rules also create obligations around law-enforcement cooperation.
Digital companies will be expected to maintain a contact point available around the clock for requests from investigative authorities.
They may also be required to preserve and provide relevant evidence when requested during an investigation.
Platforms should alert authorities immediately when they identify material that threatens a person’s life.
These requirements could become particularly important when harmful online activity overlaps with crimes such as sexual exploitation, violent threats or organised harassment.
The government is also creating a working group to develop further regulations needed to protect minors in digital environments.
For technology companies, that means the current decree may not be the final stage of Mexico’s regulatory push.
The government has made clear that failure to comply could lead it to support a separate law imposing sanctions.
School Attack Accelerated Mexico’s Online Safety Push
The measures follow an attack involving two 18-year-old former students at a high school in Coahuila earlier this month.
One person was killed and several others were wounded.
The government subsequently intensified discussions about violent material circulating online and the responsibility of platforms carrying such content.
Sheinbaum’s administration had already announced plans to work with security, education, intelligence and digital-policy agencies on reducing the spread of material that promotes violence, abuse or harassment.
The decree turns that discussion into direct requirements for platforms.
It also puts Mexico within a much broader international trend.
Australia has introduced strict controls around minors’ social-media access, while European regulators have placed increasingly detailed responsibilities on major platforms over risks faced by children.
Brazil has also strengthened online protections for minors, while several US states have pursued age-verification and child-safety measures.
The debate is not straightforward.
Age restrictions and stronger moderation may reduce children’s exposure to harmful material, but regulators must also consider privacy and freedom of expression.
For example, verifying a user’s age can itself require the collection of additional personal information.
Overly broad content restrictions can also remove legitimate discussions about mental health, sexuality or political issues if platforms use crude automated filters.
Mexico will therefore have to balance stronger protections with clear safeguards against excessive surveillance or censorship.
The next month will show how major platforms interpret the decree and whether they can satisfy the government without facing a tougher legislative response.
What this means for you:
Parents may begin seeing stronger default privacy settings, age-based content controls and supervision tools on platforms used in Mexico. The wider trend also suggests that technology companies will face growing pressure globally to design child safety into their services from the start.
Follow for daily updates on cybercrime, corporate fraud, DFIR, hacking, investigations, and digital forensics
