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Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Children has asked prosecutors to investigate child sexual abuse material on “TikTok” and raised the possibility of suspending the platform’s services in the country, Spanish news agency EFE and other outlets reported Monday, according to Anadolu Agency.
In a letter to the attorney general’s office, the ministry called for measures to protect children after an investigation by Spanish nonprofit Maldita.es found widespread child sexual abuse material on the platform. The ministry suggested suspending “TikTok” services in Spain “if deemed appropriate,” EFE reported, citing ministry sources.
Maldita.es said its report, published Monday, documented 1,182 public posts containing explicit child sexual abuse material during a 35-day investigation. The posts attracted 48 million views, and the organization said “TikTok” search and recommendation tools helped researchers locate the material.
Some sellers used emojis or pixels to obscure parts of explicit images while advertising full videos for sale, the nonprofit said. Other accounts displayed explicit images openly, sometimes as profile pictures. Researchers also found non-explicit photos of children used to direct users to channels where child sexual abuse material was bought, sold or exchanged.
“What is clear is that content we once associated with the darkest corners of the internet is now in plain sight,” Maldita.es wrote.
Researchers reported a sample of 50 videos to “TikTok” through its reporting system. The company removed five and blocked another 13 in Spain, according to Maldita.es.
Of the 231 accounts researchers identified as having posted explicit material, 136 were still active on Oct. 15, the final day of the investigation, the nonprofit said. The most-viewed video had received more than 4 million views before “TikTok” blocked it in Spain. The account that posted it was still active when Maldita.es published its findings.
Researchers said they also identified more than 7,700 Spanish-language accounts whose users claimed to have child sexual abuse material, requested it or offered to share it.
The investigation also covered 91 livestreams by minors in 17 countries. Researchers said viewers offered children money to fulfil requests, some of them sexual, while the children broadcast from home or school.
Maldita.es said “TikTok” virtual gifts enabled viewers to pay children during broadcasts and that the platform itself profited from those transactions.
Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego requested an urgent meeting with “TikTok” representatives in Spain to ask what safeguards the company had in place and what immediate steps it would take to protect children, EFE reported.
Ministry sources told EFE the findings were “of extreme gravity” and called for a coordinated response by Spanish and European authorities. The ministry cited shortcomings in “TikTok’s” detection and moderation of content, as well as concerns about the role of its recommendation system in spreading the material.
Maldita.es submitted its evidence to Spanish cybercrime prosecutors and said it would publish further findings in the coming days.
“TikTok” asked for more information when contacted but had not answered questions about its child protection measures or the findings by the time the investigation was published, Maldita.es said.
