Spain asks to suspend TikTok after 1,000+ child abuse videos

Spain asks to suspend TikTok after 1,000+ child abuse videos

On Tuesday (Nov. 10), the Spanish government asked the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) to precautionarily suspend TikTok's activity in the country, after the fact-checking outlet Maldita.es found more than 1,000 videos of explicit child sexual abuse on the platform. TikTok hasn't gone offline, and the decision isn't the government's to make: it belongs to the agency. For people who post, I don't expect a blackout. I expect tougher moderation of any video with a child in it.

What exactly was requested?

A provisional suspension under Article 66 of the GDPR, the European data protection law. According to El Español, the Minister of Youth and Children, Sira Rego, sent the request to the AEPD on Tuesday and said she expects a "very quick" answer. On Monday (Nov. 9), the ministry had already sent a written request to prosecutors asking them to consider measures, including shutting down the service.

The minister herself acknowledged the limit: "It's not up to the government to precautionarily suspend TikTok's activity." She added that if it were, the platform "would have been suspended since yesterday."

Besides the suspension, the ministry demanded the following from TikTok, according to Infobae:

• immediately remove the flagged content and profiles and hand them over to prosecutors, preserving the evidence;
• explain why only five of 50 reported videos came down;
• urgent human review of reports and changes to the recommendation system.

According to the minister, the company said it will "study and assess" the situation. Reuters contacted TikTok and got no immediate response, according to Olhar Digital.

What did the investigation find?

More than 1,000 posts with explicit abuse, totaling 48 million views. Maldita collected the material between September 11 and October 15, using manual keyword searches and following what the algorithm itself recommended, which was one of the main entry points. Of the 231 accounts analyzed, 136 (59%) were still active on October 15, even though TikTok's rules call for a permanent ban.

The most damning figure is about moderation. Maldita reported 50 videos through the official channel: TikTok removed 5, blocked 13 for Spain only, and found 58% within its rules, according to El Español. After the story ran, the platform blocked two search terms, but the fact-checkers found another 100 posts in a new search on Tuesday.

This isn't the first time. In February, the Spanish government had already asked for an investigation into X, Meta and TikTok over AI-generated abuse material, as The Star reported.

Can TikTok really go offline in Spain?

It can, but with a time limit and only there. Article 66 of the GDPR lets a country's authority adopt, "in exceptional circumstances," provisional measures effective in its own territory for a maximum of three months. It's the shortcut for acting without waiting for the Irish authority, which normally leads TikTok cases in Europe.

The closest precedent is Italian. In January 2021, after a 10-year-old girl died in a challenge on the app, Italy's authority used the same article and restricted the processing of data of users whose age couldn't be confirmed. The app didn't go offline: TikTok had to verify the age of existing users. My bet is that Spain ends up with something similar, a specific order forcing the platform to change search, recommendations and reporting, not a total block. But it's a bet: the AEPD hasn't decided yet.

What changes for you

If you post from Brazil to a Brazilian audience, nothing changes in your reach today. There's no confirmation of a similar measure in Brazil. Who feels it first:

• Anyone with a significant audience in Spain. A creator making Spanish-language content, or in a niche with a big Spanish following, would lose that share while the measure lasted. Check your TikTok analytics to see how many of your views come from there.
• Anyone who posts or clips videos with children. When a platform is pressured like this, the response is usually to tighten the automatic filter, and automatic filters catch innocent content too. Family vlogs, lives with a kid in frame, podcast clips with a child guest: these are the kinds of videos that tend to end up in review, lose distribution or get taken down by mistake. In Brazil this is already under pressure from the ECA Digital, the country's child online protection law, which makes monetizing content with children conditional on a court authorization.
• Anyone who depends on search. TikTok reacted by blocking search terms. Blocking by word is crude and can hit terms you use in good faith in your captions or post description. If a video that was getting search traffic suddenly stops, check whether its keyword landed on a list.

Regulatory pressure on platforms over minors is a trend, not an isolated case: Instagram just rolled out AI age checks worldwide.

What to do now

1. Review your archive for videos with children. Take down or crop out anything that shows a minor without need, especially on a clipping channel. It protects the child and your account.
2. Don't depend on a single app. If Spain or any other market blocks TikTok for three months, people who have the same video on Reels and Shorts keep getting seen. On Cut.Pro you can publish and schedule the same clip to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Threads, X, LinkedIn, Bluesky, Pinterest, Telegram, Mastodon, Discord, Dailymotion, Tumblr, Slack, Car.Media, and YouTube at once, and cross-clipping across TikTok, Shorts and Reels explains how to adapt without losing reach.
3. Report abuse when you come across it. In the app, through the video menu. In Brazil, also through SaferNet, a Brazilian reporting hotline that forwards cases to the authorities. Don't download it, don't share it "to raise awareness," and don't make a reaction video with the material on screen.

The AEPD hasn't responded yet. I'll update this post when the decision comes out.