SecurityNov 9, 2026, 2:37 PM UTC·2 min read

Spain asks prosecutors to investigate TikTok over child abuse videos

Spain's Ministry of Youth and Children has asked prosecutors to investigate TikTok after Maldita.es documented more than 1,100 explicit child sexual abuse videos on the platform.

Image: xataka.com

Spain's Ministry of Youth and Children has asked the public prosecutor's office to open an investigation into TikTok. The request follows a Maldita.es investigation that documented thousands of videos and live streams showing explicit child sexual abuse on the platform. Minister Sira Rego called the facts "extremely serious" and said on Bluesky that the ministry had also requested an urgent meeting with TikTok's representatives in Spain.

What Maldita found

Over 35 days, Maldita located 1,183 videos of explicit child sexual abuse and more than 26,000 profiles of potential child abusers. The material was publicly accessible and could be reached through TikTok's own search function and recommendation algorithm.

The outlet reported 50 of the videos through the official channel. TikTok removed only five, or 10%, and blocked another 13 in Spain alone. Three days later, 40% of the accounts that had posted them were still active. TikTok replied to Maldita by asking for more information.

A pattern of referrals

This is Maldita's third investigation on the subject in a year, following reports in December and May. It is also the third time in 2026 that the Spanish government has taken a major platform to prosecutors: in January it targeted X over nude images created with Grok, and in February it targeted X, Meta and TikTok over AI-generated sexual material involving minors.

According to El País, the ministry is also considering suspending TikTok's services in Spain, although the minister has not confirmed this publicly. Such a move would be difficult. As a very large platform, TikTok is supervised by the European Commission under the Digital Services Act. The law allows a service to be restricted only as a last resort and with a judge's authorization, and it has never been applied to a social network of this size.

What comes next

Prosecutors already hold the evidence, which Maldita documented so that it could be used in court even if TikTok deletes the accounts. Maldita will keep publishing its series until 13 November.

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