Marls

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez: Starting next week, my government will implement the following actions: First, we will change the law in Spain to hold platform executives legally accountable for many infringements taking place on their sites. Second, we will turn algorithmic manipulation and amplification of illegal content into a new criminal offense. Third, we will implement a hate and polarization footprint system to track, quantify, and expose how digital platforms fuel division and amplify hate. Fourth, Spain will ban access to social media for minors under the age of 16. Platforms will be required to implement effective age verification systems — not just checkboxes, but real barriers that work. Fifth and last, my government will work with our public prosecutor to investigate and pursue the infringement committed by Grok, TikTok, and Instagram.

We have been concerned about pricing for participating nations for months now and have been raising these concerns with Football Supporters Europe and our FA. The early trends were worrying and it is devastating to see those concerns turn reality with the release of England’s prices for the World Cup. ESTC members have followed England loyally throughout this campaign, from Barcelona to Belgrade, Riga to Tirana, multiple midweek trips to Wembley, as well as the caps built from the Euro 2024 campaign, all to back the team to make the World Cup. These prices are a slap in the face to supporters who support their team outside of the flagship tournament that appears every four years. To call the Category 3 tickets, the cheapest available to ESTC members, “Supporter Value Category 3” that comes at a cost of $7020 if you want to follow England from start to finish, is laughable. A game for supporters, loyalty has been thrown out of the window and supporters of the participating nations have been completely let down.