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Spain mulls TikTok suspension after investigation into child sex abuse videos

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In short

The potential ban comes after transparency group Maldita.es released a report identifying roughly 26,000 accounts linked to suspected pedophiles during a 35-day investigation in September and October. In addition to cataloging over 1,000 explicit videos that drew 48 million views, the watchdog revealed that the platform's algorithms pushed live broadcasts of children who were solicited for sexualized acts via monetary gifts. Although TikTok previously defended its safety protocols, the findings have now been submitted directly to law enforcement authorities. Furthermore, the report documented that the platform had removed merely one-tenth of the flagged materials before the revelations were…

Key points

  • Minister Sira Rego called company representatives to an urgent meeting while demanding fo…: Minister Sira Rego called company representatives to an urgent meeting while demanding formal explanations regarding child safety failures.
  • European regulators continue ramping up pressure on the service, including previous direc…: European regulators continue ramping up pressure on the service, including previous directives demanding alterations to its recommendation feed under threat of fines.
  • Watchdogs warned that illicit content historically confined to dark web networks is now r…: Watchdogs warned that illicit content historically confined to dark web networks is now readily accessible through the mainstream video app.

Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1

Ministry of Youth and Children calls for urgent meeting with TikTok leadership in Spain.

Spain is considering suspending TikTok after an independent investigation found more than 1,000 child sexual abuse videos on the platform with a total of 48 million views.

Spanish foundation Maldita.es said it detected more than 20,000 profiles of suspected paedophiles – 7,000 of them in Spanish – during the 35 days it monitored the popular video-blogging platform in September and October.

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The nonprofit organisation, which aims to combat disinformation and promote transparency, also accused TikTok of amplifying content by minors in the algorithm, and profiting from their abuse.

“Abuse is not hidden away in a little corner and it is not hard to find,” Clara Jimenez Cruz, Maldita.es cofounder and chief executive, said.

During its investigation, “TikTok: Home to…

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