The Government has taken another step in its offensive against TikTok and has requested the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) to intervene to suspend the social network's activity in Spain due to the dissemination of child sexual abuse content. The Ministry of Youth and Childhood, led by Sira Rego, has sent a letter to the agency to assess the adoption of urgent measures given the seriousness of the documented facts.
The request comes after an investigation by Maldita.es brought to light more than 1,000 videos of child sexual abuse on the platform, with millions of views. The department considers that TikTok's detection and moderation mechanisms are not working and demands an immediate response to guarantee the protection of minors.
The minister has argued that the suspension of the platform should occur as long as a safe environment for children and adolescents is not guaranteed. "If it were up to us, it would have been suspended yesterday," she said after meeting with company representatives.
What has the investigation into TikTok found?
The investigative work by Maldita.es, developed over 35 days, has documented 231 profiles and 1,183 pieces of explicit child sexual abuse content, accumulating around 48 million views. Furthermore, it has focused on the presence of users who share, exchange, and commercialize this type of material through the social network.
The organization also reported a sample of 50 videos to TikTok. However, according to the published data, the platform only deleted five and blocked another 13 in Spain. These results have drawn criticism from the Ministry, which questions the effectiveness of its moderation tools and the functioning of its recommendation algorithms.
Sira Rego demands TikTok remove content and collaborate with the Prosecutor's Office
After the meeting with the platform's representatives, Sira Rego has demanded the removal of the reported material, the blocking of the implicated accounts, and full collaboration with the Prosecutor's Office, which has already received a request from the Government to investigate the facts.
The minister has also demanded explanations about the failures in the moderation systems and has insisted that TikTok must adopt immediate measures to prevent this content from continuing to circulate and to ensure that children under 13 cannot access the social network. For its part, the company has expressed its willingness to study and evaluate the situation, although Rego regretted that it did not provide sufficient information during the meeting.
The request to the Spanish Data Protection Agency is based on the urgent measures contemplated in the European General Data Protection Regulation, which allows exceptional decisions to be adopted to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens for a maximum period of three months. The suspension has not yet been agreed upon and remains pending the action of the body.
This breaking news is being updated. The editorial staff of ElConstitucional.es is working to expand the news and offer you the best information.
Contact
We are listening. Get in touch.
