Spain demands that TikTok suspend operations

Spain's government has demanded that TikTok suspend its operations in Spain until it eliminates child sexual abuse material, it said on Tuesday, after a media report documented 1,183 explicit posts on the platform with millions of views.



Youth Minister Sira Rego, whose ministry cannot singlehandedly ban the platform in Spain, has appealed to prosecutors and the Data Protection Agency to take action against the social media company.



"Social media cannot be lawless territory," Rego said.



The request comes months after Sanchez's government requested a probe into X, Meta and TikTok for allegedly spreading AI-generated child sexual abuse material, as European regulators intensify scrutiny of big tech over harmful and illegal content.



TikTok did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.



Spanish fact-checking nonprofit Maldita.es on Monday published an investigation revealing that videos of explicit child sexual abuse had been viewed on the platform at least 48 million times, with over 26,000 profiles commenting on and sharing the material.