Spanish NGO finds thousands of child sexual exploitation-linked accounts on TikTok

The Spanish non-governmental organisation Maldita.es has identified more than 20,000 accounts on the video platform TikTok that may be linked to the distribution, exchange or sale of child sexual abuse material. Following the publication of the findings, Spanish authorities have said they may suspend the platform's operations in the country.

Findings of the investigation

The investigation lasted 35 days, from 11 September to 15 October. It uncovered more than 1,000 videos of child sexual exploitation with a combined view count of about 48 million. More than 7,000 of the suspicious accounts were Spanish-language.

The organisation analysed profiles, comments and live streams, and also created experimental accounts to see how TikTok's algorithm responds to such content. It identified 231 profiles that published 1,183 explicitly sexual items, 780 accounts used to attract buyers, and more than 10,000 accounts whose comments requested the exchange of sexual images of children. In total, Maldita.es estimates that about 26,000 accounts on the platform could be linked to such content.

It also documented 91 live streams featuring minors in 17 countries, in which viewers asked children to perform certain acts, including sexual ones, in exchange for money. These were most often found in Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Russia.

TikTok's response and official action

The authors criticise how TikTok handled the reports. Of 50 videos with explicit sexual content that were reported, TikTok deleted only five within three days and made another 13 unavailable to users in Spain. After 72 hours, 40% of the accounts that had posted these videos were still active.

Spain's Ministry of Youth and Children has turned to the public prosecutor's office and demanded an urgent meeting with TikTok representatives so the company can explain its content moderation policy. Minister Sira Rego has raised the possibility of temporarily suspending the platform in Spain if it is found unable to protect minors adequately.

Maldita.es, together with the law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, has also filed a complaint with the cybercrime prosecutor's office. It questions whether TikTok complies with the European Union's Digital Services Act, which requires platforms to act immediately once informed of illegal content and requires the largest platforms to reduce risks to minors in particular.

TikTok, for its part, has asked Maldita.es to hand over all the information gathered in the investigation, saying that without the full data it is harder to identify and remove the content. The company stressed that distributors of such material regularly change their methods and that tackling the problem requires close cooperation between the platform, organisations and law enforcement.