After several days of political deadlock in Spain, which we do not intend to get into, Today’s meeting of the Council of Ministers restored the normalcy of Spanish politics already pre-programmed. And although we understand that the echoes of the last six days resonated at the executive meeting, it did not overshadow the planned agenda, which, among other things, featured several topics directly related to the world of technology and networks.

The most popular of these (and the one that will undoubtedly get the most people talking) is what quantitatively specifies the definition influencer, a role that has recently gained enormous notoriety and which must therefore respond to the legal framework that essentially regulates its activity, just as similar measures are already applied to other types of media in the audiovisual panorama. And as they have previously charged, the conditions they face are far more stringent than those faced by content creators.

After being approved in the Council of Ministers and in the Spanish legal framework, users of special importance (a term used to describe influencers) are «those who earn more than €300,000 per year and who have more than one million followers on a user-generated video sharing platform or two million followers aggregated across multiple platforms«. It is also stipulated as a condition, «who published or shared 24 or more videos per year«.

And what will all those content creators, residents of Spain, who exceed what is set in this new standard, have to do? The first step, for which you will have two months, is register in the State Register of Audiovisual Service Providerswith the role of users of special importance. And once they register in it, they take on, as mentioned above, the same obligations that have been in place for other audiovisual platforms for some time.

And what are the conditions? Well, in summary, adopt the current regulations regarding the protection of minors (although of course at this point we understand that this mainly applies to live broadcasts), ditto the legal framework that regulates advertising spaces, which means their clear identification. And, of course, a ban on tobacco, drug and alcohol advertising.

USB-C

On the other hand, you may recall that in October 2022 the European Parliament approved a legal framework that requires manufacturers of certain electronic devices to use the USB-C port as their charging connector. This standard granted a two-year moratorium for manufacturers to adapt, although some (mainly Apple, which was the most observed of those affected) decided to go ahead and make the leap to USB-C with the iPhone 15, introduced in September 2023. .

Now that there are still a few months left until the end of said moratorium, The Council of Ministers transposed the European standard into the legal space of Spain, thus amended the current legal framework in our country to establish the mandatory nature of a single charger for smartphones, headphones, tablets, portable consoles and other types of devices. In this case, a moratorium is established, which lasts until December 28 of this year. It was also approved for laptops, although in this case the moratorium lasts until April 2026.

5G networks and security

Last but not least, the Council of Ministers also gave the expected starting signal National security system in 5G networksa rule which, as we read in the official statement, «describes the procedures, certifications and security schemes that operators must implement to meet their 5G cybersecurity risk management obligations, particularly in those facilities that are particularly important to national security«.

A key point of what was approved today is the creation of a “5G operations center”. in cooperation with the National Cryptologic Centerwhich has already been allocated a budget of 15 million euros, which will be responsible for the work of training and supervising these networks with regard to their security.

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Main image: speech after the Council of Ministers on April 30, 2024, Pool Moncloa/José Manuel Álvarez. Moncloa