The Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, is meeting this afternoon with representatives of TikTok at the Ministry's headquarters to demand explanations for the more than 1,000 child sexual abuse videos uncovered by the Spanish foundation Maldita.es, and to learn what concrete measures the social network will adopt to guarantee the protection of children and adolescents.
Before the meeting with the platform, Sira Rego will hold a meeting with representatives of Maldita.es, a non-profit organization that works for informational integrity and for the accountability of digital platforms.
According to the data revealed by the investigation, the detected videos exceed 48 million views, and there are also more than 20,000 profiles of potential pedophiles who exchange or sell this type of material.
The Ministry warns of failures in detection and moderation
Ministry sources maintain that the documented facts require an immediate response, because the investigation not only focuses on the dissemination of child sexual violence material, but also raises serious doubts about the effectiveness of TikTok's detection and moderation systems, as well as about the role of its recommendation algorithms in the dissemination of these contents.
From the department headed by Sira Rego, it is emphasized that platforms have legal obligations of prevention and protection, and that they must also be held accountable for the risks derived from the design and operation of their services. In this regard, the same sources point out that the known facts could constitute serious violations of children's rights, making it essential to clarify the possible responsibilities of the company.
The Ministry also insists that the protection of children "cannot be subordinated to commercial interests or depend exclusively on the self-regulation mechanisms of large technology companies."
In parallel, the minister has sent a letter to the Prosecutor's Office to assess all necessary measures, including the possible interruption of TikTok's services.
TikTok asks for access to the full investigation
For its part, TikTok yesterday asked Maldita.es to share its investigation "in full", considering that its refusal is "actively preventing them from locating and removing this material."
This was indicated to EFE by sources from the platform, who added that not having these "findings" published by Maldita.es "hinders" the submission of reports to the Spanish security forces, although they assured that the company continues to "support the relevant authorities."
More cases detected by Maldita.es
The investigation by Maldita.es has also located 780 accounts that use the platform to attract buyers of child sexual abuse material, 91 live broadcasts of minors in 17 countries in which users request actions, sometimes sexual, in exchange for money, and a community of more than 2,000 members looking for baby content.
Contact
We are listening. Get in touch.
