Spain asks prosecutors to act over alleged child abuse material on TikTok
Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Childhood has raised the possibility of suspending TikTok services nationwide following an investigation by Maldita.es.
Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Childhood has asked the public prosecutor’s office to act over alleged child sexual abuse material on TikTok and raised the possibility of suspending the platform’s services in Spain if deemed appropriate.
The request follows an investigation by the Spanish non-profit foundation Maldita.es. Any suspension across Spain would also affect users in Fuerteventura, although the ministry has presented it as a possibility for prosecutors to consider, not a decision already taken.
Maldita.es says it found more than 1,000 videos depicting alleged child sexual abuse on TikTok, with over 48 million views. It also identified more than 20,000 profiles belonging to potential perpetrators who exchange or sell such material, of which more than 7,000 operated in Spanish.
The foundation says it located 780 accounts using the platform to recruit buyers for child sexual abuse material. It also found 91 livestreams involving minors in 17 countries, in which users requested actions, sometimes sexual, in exchange for money, and a community of more than 2,000 members seeking content involving babies.
Ministry seeks urgent meeting with TikTok
The ministry said it had written to the Attorney General’s Office asking it to take the necessary measures within its powers to protect any affected children and adolescents. It also referred to what it described as a lack of effective mechanisms on the social network to prevent the material from being shared.
Youth and Childhood Minister Sira Rego has requested an urgent meeting with TikTok’s representatives in Spain to hear the company’s explanation and learn what measures it has taken and plans to take immediately.
The ministry described the findings as extremely serious and called for an immediate, coordinated response from the relevant Spanish and European authorities. It said they pointed to serious shortcomings in content detection and moderation, as well as concerns about the role of TikTok’s recommendation systems in spreading the material.