Spanish prosecutors have opened an inquiry into allegations that child sexual abuse material has been circulating on TikTok, after a formal complaint from the anti-disinformation organisation Maldita.es put the platform under renewed scrutiny.
Spain’s public prosecutor’s office said in a statement that it has appointed a prosecutor to examine possible offences linked to the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material, as well as the corruption of minors, in connection with activity on the social media app.
The move follows a complaint filed with the prosecutor’s cybercrime unit by Maldita.es, which on Monday accused TikTok of failing to do enough to stop users from finding child sexual abuse material or from soliciting images from children through the platform.
“Material you would expect to find only on the dark web is on TikTok,” the Maldita.es association said.
In its published investigation, Maldita.es said it documented more than 1,000 videos containing child abuse footage, which it reported had amassed a combined 48 million views.
Maldita.es also alleged that TikTok removed only one-tenth of the content the group reported and blocked just 26% of illegal posts in Spain.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez previously announced a series of measures aimed at tackling the ‘manipulation and amplification of illegal content’ on social media
The complaint submitted to prosecutors points to what it describes as the posting, dissemination and sale of child abuse material on TikTok, and claims that some users steered others toward similar content both on TikTok and across other platforms.
It also flags concerns about live broadcasts involving minors in exchange for financial compensation.
According to the public prosecutor’s office, representatives from Maldita.es appeared before a prosecutor today to formally confirm the complaint and to provide supporting evidence.
TikTok, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, is facing a growing number of lawsuits and investigations over allegations that it has not adequately protected minors — accusations the company has frequently denied.
On Friday, the EU instructed TikTok to change what it called the “harmful” design of its personalised ‘For You’ feed or face potentially heavy penalties under the bloc’s digital content rules.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced in February that his government would pursue a package of measures aimed at curbing the “manipulation and amplification of illegal content” on social media, including proposals to bar under-16s from accessing the platforms.
The prime minister has repeatedly accused X, Meta and TikTok of not doing enough to combat the creation and spread of fake sexual images of minors on their services.
