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Spain’s youth and children’s minister, Sira Rego, on Tuesday asked the country’s data protection agency to temporarily suspend “TikTok” in Spain after an investigation found widespread child sexual abuse material on the platform, Anadolu Agency reported.
After meeting with “TikTok” representatives, Rego described the requested suspension as an exceptional measure and said she had also urged the company to suspend its services voluntarily.
“It is not up to the government to suspend TikTok as a precaution. If it were up to us, it would have been suspended yesterday,” she said.
Rego said “TikTok” had pledged to “study and evaluate” the situation but had offered no technical fixes or commitments to an audit or new verification measures. She called the findings of “Maldita.es”’ investigation “very serious, very concerning” and said they pointed to “a structural problem at TikTok, which rewards ecosystems that share and reproduce sexual violence against children with considerable ease.”
Rego said she had entered words into the search bar that provided quick access to content depicting sexual violence against children. She was referring to her meeting with the “Maldita.es” team.
Under EU data protection rules, Spain’s data regulator can impose temporary measures lasting up to three months if it considers urgent action necessary to protect people’s rights and freedoms.
Investigation documented posts and accounts
Published on Monday, the 35-day investigation by Spanish nonprofit “Maldita.es” documented 1,182 public posts containing child sexual abuse material that had received more than 48 million views. It also identified more than 200 accounts sharing such content.
According to the nonprofit, some accounts used slightly altered images to advertise child sexual abuse material for sale, while others displayed explicit images publicly. Researchers also found photographs of children used to direct users to channels where such material was bought, sold or exchanged.
Of 50 videos reported by researchers, “TikTok” initially removed five and blocked another 13 in Spain, “Maldita.es” said.
Researchers report livestreams involving minors
The investigation also documented 91 instances of minors livestreaming in violation of “TikTok” policies. Some viewers offered children money in exchange for fulfilling sexual requests.
“Maldita.es” said “TikTok”’s virtual gift system allowed viewers to pay children during the broadcasts and alleged that the platform profited from those transactions.
Popular Party leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said “Maldita.es” had also briefed him on the material found on “TikTok”.
“Every day, children are exposed to adults who ask them to do things no parent would want to imagine,” Feijoo wrote on the social media platform “X”. “It’s chilling, and we can’t look the other way.”
