TikTok crisis in Spain: Prosecutors intervene over child abuse content

The TikTok scandal continues to grow. Following findings in Spain that videos containing child abuse reached 48 million views, the Ministry of Youth and Children applied to official authorities to temporarily suspend TikTok's operations.

Spain's minority leftist coalition government launched legal proceedings against TikTok for failing to prevent the spread of child sexual abuse content. Minister of Youth and Children Sira Rego stated that platform management avoided taking responsibility and called on relevant institutions for urgent intervention.

Official shutdown application submitted to Data Protection Agency

Speaking at a press conference, Minister Sira Rego announced that they submitted an official application to the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). Noting that the government does not have the authority to block access directly, Rego asked the agency to exercise its legal initiative. The application requested the temporary suspension of the platform's operations as an urgent and exceptional measure. Addressing the seriousness of the process, Rego stated that if the decision had been up to them, they would have halted operations yesterday.

No concrete agreement reached in TikTok talks

Following the developments, authorities contacted officials from Chinese video platform TikTok. However, crisis meetings between the ministry and TikTok representatives yielded no results.

Minister Rego reported that the company only promised to examine the situation during the meetings. Platform management did not present a concrete solution plan regarding technical filtering, an independent audit mechanism, an age verification system, or a legal settlement. In addition to the administrative application, the government filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office to open a criminal investigation into the illicit posts.

Data leaked to Spanish media: 20 thousand suspicious accounts

Technical review results published in the Spanish press showed the extent reached by the abuse network on the platform. The data in the report included the following details:

The report stated that the more than 20,000 profiles in question circulated, traded, or distributed material containing child abuse.