Spain is contemplating a suspension of the popular video-sharing app TikTok following an independent investigation that revealed over a thousand child sexual abuse videos on the platform, amassing a total of 48 million views. The Spanish nonprofit organization Maldita.es, dedicated to combatting disinformation and promoting transparency, conducted the probe, discovering more than 20,000 suspected pedophile profiles during its 35-day monitoring in September and October.
During the investigation, dubbed "TikTok: Home to Predators," Maldita.es detected numerous instances of minors' content being amplified by TikTok's algorithm and profited from by the platform. The organization accused TikTok of objectifying children and encouraging them to perform sexually explicit acts in exchange for virtual gifts, with the platform reportedly taking a portion of the money spent on these gifts.
In response to these findings, Spain's Ministry of Youth and Children has demanded clarification from TikTok and is considering suspending the service, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. The ministry has also requested prosecutors to take action over alleged child sexual abuse cases on TikTok and scheduled an urgent meeting with the platform's representatives in Spain.
Maldita.es reported identifying 231 profiles that posted explicit content, 780 accounts used for attracting buyers, and more than 10,000 accounts asking for sexual image exchanges in comments. The organization handed over these details to authorities and claimed that the platform's features are being exploited by child predators.
Despite publishing its findings on Monday, TikTok reportedly removed only one-tenth of the content flagged and blocked only a quarter of illegal posts in Spain. TikTok faces numerous lawsuits and investigations over accusations of failing to protect minors, allegations it has denied. The European Union recently warned TikTok to modify the "harmful" design of its personalized "For You" feed or face substantial fines under the bloc's digital content rules.