The debate on banning cell phones in classrooms and their effectiveness against digital violence
Banning cell phones in classrooms is another possible solution to reduce the problem of digital violence against minors and AI-generated content. Some countries have already taken this step: Portugal will ban them from the 2025/26 school year in the early stages of education, after an evaluation of the implementation of this measure in some schools revealed that bullying had decreased, and France, who banned their use in 2018, is considering tightening the measure.
In Spain, the State School Council recommended in 2024 that cell phones should be completely banned in primary stages, and its use should be only allowed for educational or medical purposes in secondary schools. However, there is no single rule at the national level, and the regulation of personal electronic devices in classrooms varies from region to region: some autonomous communities in Spain ban them completely, others have nuanced rules, and others leave the decision up to the schools themselves.
The Department of Education and Vocational Training of the Región de Murcia – an autonomous community in Spain that banned the use of mobile devices in primary, secondary, and vocational training classrooms in January 2024 – told Maldita.es that the measure has led to a “notable improvement in coexistence in educational centers, with a reduction in very serious offenses and a decrease in cases of cyberharrassment.” Specifically, there was a 27.42% decrease in reported cases of cyberharrassment between 2023 and 2024. There are also studies, such as an analysis by researchers Pilar Beneito and Óscar Vicente-Chirivella from the University of Valencia (Comunidad Valenciana, Spain) and research from the University of Augsburg (Germany), which defend the effectiveness of these measures in reducing bullying in schools.
In Romania, the use of mobile phones during classes is banned. At least on paper. Although the law was changed last year, and the Ministry for Education announced phones would be completely banned during the entire school program, including during breaks schools have the freedom to decide their own policies regarding this issue. This leaves the door open for exceptions. Half a year after the phone ban was announced by the Ministry of Education, Daniel David, the head of the institution, told the press he does not support such a measure. He only recommended schools to adopt strict measures.
In Ukraine, there is no complete ban on mobile phones in schools at the legislative level, but the institutions themselves can establish their own rules for their use. Each school has the right to independently develop and adopt rules regarding gadgets, which must be followed by all participants in the educational process. The education ombudsman notes that schools cannot prohibit students from having phones, but they can restrict their use during lessons. The situation is complicated by war. During war, giving up gadgets during lessons is impossible. Many children study remotely, and being present at lessons and giving up the Internet at the same time is simply impossible.
On the other hand, experts consulted by Maldita.es think that a total ban is not the answer (banning can have the opposite effect and minors still have access to devices after school). They all agree that digital education for minors is key. “Education has to do with raising awareness about the good and bad that can come with the use of new technologies. We believe that prohibition as such does not solve the problem,” explains Ferran Calvo, president of the Baobab Association.
From age verification systems, to criminalizing AI generated sexual content: legislative framework to curb digital violence
Regulation as a solution does not apply exclusively to the prohibition or not prohibition of cell phones; it is also necessary to prevent and respond to situations of digital violence. In the European Union, Spain, Romania, and Ukraine, there are legislative frameworks in place and bills that seek to update regulations to address new issues, such as classifying sexual content created with AI as a crime.
At the European level, the main regulation seeking to protect minors online is the Digital Services Act (DSA), a set of rules governing the digital space that includes measures on transparency, content moderation, misinformation, and recommendation algorithms. On July 14, 2025, the European Commission published its Guidelines on the Protection of Minors under the DSA, “to protect children from online risks such as grooming, harmful content, problematic and addictive behavior, as well as cyberbullying and harmful commercial practices.” According to Asha Allen, Secretary General of the Center for Democracy and Technology Europe (CDT), declarations to Maldita.es , “the Digital Services Act provides the most comprehensive framework for the online protection of minors as it sets the parameters for platform obligations in tackling illegal content as well as mandatory due diligence and transparency obligations to address ‘systemic risks’, of which the protection of minors is explicitly included”.
Laws like the DSA require very large platforms (VLOP) to introduce age verification systems to protect minors from content that can be damaging. However, the development of stricter systems remains a topic of debate due to the privacy issues they could entail. Ella Jakubowska, Head of Public Policy at European Digital Rights (EDRi), explains to Maldita.es that, as of today, there are no “good age verification tools available, and we may never have ones that respect our privacy.” In July 2025, it was announced that Spain will be one of the countries, along with Denmark, Greece, France, and Italy, to test the prototype application presented by the European Commission for age verification.
In the Spanish context there is already a set of laws that can protect minors in digital spaces, like the Organic Law on comprehensive protection of children and adolescents against violence, the Organic Law on the Legal Protection of Minors, and the Organic Law on the Protection of Personal Data and the Guarantee of Digital Rights. Regarding AI sexual generated content of minors, these cases can be prosecuted thanks to the expansion of the concept of child pornography (and the inclusion of virtual pornography, technical pornography and pseudo child pornography). But there are more initiatives in the way: the draft Organic Law for the Protection of Minors in Digital Environments was presented in Spain – currently in the state of being processed in Congress. The law seeks to criminalize the creation of AI generated sexual content of minors and to classify grooming as an aggravating circumstance in certain sexual offenses. The draft also seeks to establish new age verification requirements for platforms aimed at adults, raise the minimum age for the processing of personal data from 14 to 16, install free parental controls on all devices, and establish the penalty of restraining order in virtual environments.
In Romania, children’s rights in the online environment are the same as those they have offline. At the national level, these are regulated by Law 272/2004 on the protection and promotion of children’s rights, which includes clear provisions regarding online abuse. For example, Article 85 paragraph (1) specifies that minors have the right to be protected against any type of abuse and any form of violence, regardless of the environment they are in. Additionally, other regulations in the Criminal Code clearly criminalize certain acts, such as child pornography or sexual intercourse with a minor aged between 14 and 16. Since 2019, Law 221/2019 has also been in force, which prevents and combats bullying in schools, and it also contains clear definitions regarding cyberbullying in educational institutions, as well as identification tools and prevention measures.
Romania does not yet have a law to enforce age verification. A 2023 bill, the “Digital Age of Consent Law,” initiated by Liberal senator Nicoleta Pauliuc, proposes parental consent up to 16 for accessing online platforms, focusing on parental responsibility rather than technical checks. It also introduces obligations for social networks and gaming apps: filters against harmful content, child-safety standards, and bans on advertising to minors. Another initiative from the National Liberal Party targets children under 18 on Very Large Online Platforms (Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.), with stricter measures: verifiable age checks, customized parental control, bans on monetizing minors’ live content without parental consent, and fines of 0.5–3% of global turnover. Legislative consultant Bogdan Manolea warns these laws are hard to apply to global platforms without headquarters in Romania. He notes for Scena9 that children often bypass restrictions and that rights to privacy, free expression, and identity exploration must also be considered.
In Ukraine, digital content with sexual abuse of children is clearly a crime and is prosecuted under criminal law. At the same time, cyberbullying and some forms of psychological digital violence (humiliation, intimidation) are qualified only as administrative offenses. The Criminal Code of Ukraine explicitly refers to “child pornography,” which is defined as any image or video that simulates sexual abuse of a child or uses the image of a child. The law does not make an exception for artificially created content, so even if a child did not actually participate in the creation of the material, it can be classified as a crime. That is, if AI content realistically reproduces a child in a sexual context, it is equated with prohibited products, and the person who creates, stores or distributes such material will be liable.
Deepfakes and other kinds of AI generated sexual content are on the rise and they will definitely be one of the main challenges regulators will have to deal with from now on. In this collective quest for finding solutions, Denmark plans to change its copyright law and grant all Danish citizens copyright ownership over their own physical features (face, voice, body). This way, they hope to have legal control over AI generated content that uses their traits.
These are all solutions organisations and institutions have come up with in the face of an extremely complex and ever changing internet ecosystem of problems, broadly defined as digital violence. But they can only work partially, as long as the online environment knows no borders, is subjected to different sets of rules than those which govern offline societies, and is constantly shaped by phenomena never known before. The process of adaptation is slow and it involves lots of trials and errors, and the lack of transparency from giant tech companies and accountability complicates it even further, as consulted experts have expressed. It is essential that more and more people, organisations and institutions start acknowledging that digital literacy, cultural tools, technological infrastructure and coherent policies are not optional. They are absolutely necessary tools against the numerous forms of online violence that affect us all, starting from the earliest ages.
Editor for Scena9.ro: Andra Matzal
Editors for Maldita.es: Patricia Ruiz Guevara, Coral García Dorado
Editor for Rubryka.com: Viktoriia Hubareva
Main illustration: Malu Jaramillo for Maldita.es
This article is supported by Journalismfund Europe.
