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 news outlets reported Monday.
In a letter to the attorney general's office, the ministry called for measures to protect children following an investigation by Spanish nonprofit Maldita.es that uncovered widespread child sexual abuse material on the popular platform.
The ministry suggested suspending TikTok's services in Spain "if deemed appropriate," EFE reported, citing ministry sources.
In a report published Monday, Maldita.es said it documented 1,182 public posts containing explicit child sexual abuse material during a 35-day investigation. The posts drew 48 million views, and TikTok's search and recommendation tools helped researchers find the material, the organization said.
Some sellers used emojis or pixels to obscure parts of explicit images while advertising the full videos for sale, Maldita.es 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 own 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 remained active on Oct. 15, the final day of the investigation, it added. The most-viewed video had drawn 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 boasted about having child sexual abuse material, requested it or offered to share it.
The investigation extended to 91 livestreams by minors in 17 countries. Researchers said viewers offered children money to fulfill requests, some of them sexual, while the children were broadcasting from home or school.
Maldita.es said TikTok's virtual gifts allowed viewers to pay children during the broadcasts and that the platform itself profited from those transactions.
Youth and Children Minister Sira Rego requested an urgent meeting with TikTok's representatives in Spain to explain what safeguards the company had put in place and what it would do immediately to protect children, according to EFE.
Ministry sources told EFE the findings were "of extreme gravity" and called for a coordinated response from Spanish and European authorities. The ministry cited shortcomings in how TikTok detects and moderates content, as well as concerns about the role its recommendation system played in spreading the material.
The nonprofit 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.
