Spain is weighing a possible suspension of TikTok after a probe by the Spanish foundation Maldita.es reported more than 1,000 videos of child sexual abuse on the platform, which together drew 48 million views.
The nonprofit, which works against disinformation and promotes transparency, said it identified more than 20,000 profiles of suspected paedophiles during 35 days of monitoring TikTok in September and October. Of those, 7,000 were Spanish, it said.
Livestreams and profiles flagged by Maldita.es
The group said it reviewed profiles, comments and live broadcasts, and created its own accounts to test how the recommendation system responded. Within just three days, the algorithm suggested 19 livestreams involving minors, 15 of them during a single morning, all filmed at schools.
In one case, the platform recommended a livestream by a 10-year-old girl in Spain, who received suggestive comments from an adult man during the broadcast.
Maldita.es also accused TikTok of pushing content featuring minors through its algorithm and of profiting from their abuse. According to the foundation, children were pressed to perform sexualised actions in return for virtual gifts that users paid for, and the company takes a share of that spending, although the size of that share is unclear.
Spain’s youth ministry seeks answers from TikTok
Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Children has demanded explanations from the company and raised the possibility of suspending the app, which is owned by China’s ByteDance.
In a post on X, the ministry said it had asked prosecutors to act over alleged cases of child sexual abuse on the platform. Minister Sira Rego, it added, had requested an urgent meeting with TikTok’s representatives in Spain.
The Maldita.es investigation found 231 profiles that posted 1,183 explicit items, 780 accounts that use the network to find buyers, and more than 10,000 accounts asking for exchanges of sexual images in the comments. Once all categories were combined, the foundation said it had detected about 26,000 suspected paedophile accounts and passed the details to the authorities.
“Material you would expect to find only on the dark web is on TikTok,” Maldita.es said. The group added that when its findings were published on Monday, TikTok had removed only a tenth of the content it had flagged and blocked just a quarter of illegal posts in Spain.
TikTok faces lawsuits and European Union pressure
TikTok is facing a wave of lawsuits and investigations over claims that it has failed to protect minors, which the company denies.
On Friday, the European Union told TikTok to change the “harmful” design of its personalised “For You” feed or risk large fines under the bloc’s digital content rules.
