Spain mulls TikTok suspension after investigation into child sex abuse videos

Spain is contemplating suspending the TikTok service within its borders following an investigation conducted by the anti-disinformation foundation Maldita.es. The foundation discovered 1,183 videos containing explicit child sexual abuse material on the platform, which had amassed a total of 48 million views during a 35-day period.

Youth and Children’s Minister Sira Rego communicated the government's intention to investigate the issue, requesting urgent meetings with TikTok’s representatives in Spain. The ministry has asked public prosecutors to take necessary measures to ensure the comprehensive protection of any children and young people affected by the content. They also expressed concerns about TikTok's content detection and moderation systems, as well as the role of its recommendation algorithms in spreading the material.

Maldita.es identified over 26,000 profiles linked to possible child sexual abuse material activity and documented instances of users commenting, sharing, and soliciting sexual content from children. Around 7,700 Spanish-speaking users were identified, some of whom hosted livestreams with hundreds of participants. The foundation's investigation revealed that some videos featured content typically found only on the dark web.

To test TikTok's reporting system, Maldita.es flagged a sample of 50 videos containing child sexual abuse material. However, TikTok only removed five videos and restricted access to 13 others in Spain. Despite these actions, 40% of the accounts responsible for the videos were still active three days after the reports were filed.

TikTok, owned by China’s ByteDance, has faced lawsuits and investigations regarding its alleged failure to protect minors on the platform. The company has frequently denied these allegations. The European Union has also taken regulatory action, instructing TikTok to change the design of its personalized For You feed or face substantial fines under the bloc’s digital services rules.