MADRID: Spanish prosecutors on Wednesday ordered an investigation into the alleged distribution of child sexual abuse material on TikTok, following a complaint filed by anti-disinformation group Maldita.es.
A prosecutor has been appointed to investigate possible offences involving the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material and the corruption of minors on the social media platform, Spain’s public prosecutor’s office said in a statement.
It follows a complaint submitted to the office’s cybercrime unit by Maldita.es, which on Monday accused TikTok of not doing enough to prevent paedophiles from accessing child sexual abuse material or soliciting images from children on the platform.
“Material you would expect to find only on the dark web is on TikTok,” the Maldita.es association said.
In the investigation published Monday, Maldita.es catalogued more than 1,000 videos of child abuse footage, which had been viewed a total of 48 million times.
Maldita.es further alleged that TikTok had removed only a tenth of the material it flagged and blocked just 26 per cent of illegal posts in Spain.
The complaint to prosecutors cites the publication, distribution and sale of child abuse material on the platform, as well as users directing others to similar content on TikTok and other platforms.
It also raises concerns about live broadcasts featuring minors in exchange for financial compensation.
Representatives of Maldita.es appeared before a prosecutor on Wednesday to formally confirm their complaint and submit supporting evidence, the public prosecutor’s office said.
TikTok, owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance, faces a wave of lawsuits and investigations over accusations that it has failed to protect minors, which the company has frequently denied.
On Friday, the EU told TikTok to change the “harmful” design of its personalised For You feed or risk large fines under the bloc’s digital content rules.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced a series of measures in February aimed at tackling the “manipulation and amplification of illegal content” on social media, including plans to ban under-16s from accessing the platforms.
The Socialist leader has repeatedly accused X, Meta and TikTok of failing to do enough to tackle the creation and distribution of fake sexual images of minors on their platforms.–AFP