Argentina: Bill on preventive mental health regime in digital environments (7340-D-2025) including consumer protection authority governance was introduced to Chamber of Deputies

On 19 February 2026, the Bill Preventive Mental Health Regime in Digital Environments (7340-D-2025) was introduced to the Argentine Chamber of Deputies. The Bill would designate the Ministry of Health as the enforcement authority. The Ministry would be empowered to issue implementing, complementary, and interpretative regulations necessary for the application of the law. It would establish technical standards, protocols, and methodologies for age verification systems, impact assessments, and audits. The Ministry would supervise compliance by covered platforms and conduct administrative sanctioning procedures. It would be authorised to impose penalties, require information, documentation, and technical cooperation subject to confidentiality safeguards, and coordinate federal implementation through the Federal Health Council. The Bill would also create a National Observatory of Digital Mental Health as a permanent technical and consultative body with functional autonomy within the Ministry of Health, tasked with analysing and monitoring the impact of digital environments on mental health, issuing technical recommendations, evaluating audit reports and impact assessment methodologies, administering a National Register of Digital Mental Health Auditors, and publishing periodic public reports. The Observatory would consist of nine members drawn from mental health specialists, academic researchers, education authorities, civil society, child protection organisations, and the technology sector, subject to fixed terms, incompatibility rules, and conflict-of-interest safeguards. The Bill would further establish a Digital Mental Health Fund, financed inter alia by a 0.2 % special contribution on the annual gross revenue attributable to Argentina of platforms with more than one million monthly active users, as well as fines and other allocated resources, to support research, prevention, public awareness campaigns, and the strengthening of the public mental health system.