MADRID, November 10, 2026 — Spain’s government has called for TikTok to suspend operations in the country until it removes child sexual abuse material from its platform, escalating pressure on the social-media company after an investigation documented thousands of interactions with explicit content.
Youth Minister Sira Rego said her ministry had appealed to prosecutors and the Spanish Data Protection Agency to take action. The ministry cannot independently order a nationwide suspension of TikTok, leaving the next steps to legal and regulatory authorities.
The request followed an investigation by Spanish fact-checking organisation Maldita.es, which reported identifying 1,183 explicit posts and said the material had been viewed at least 48 million times. The investigation also found that more than 26,000 profiles had commented on or shared the content.
Reuters reported that TikTok had restricted two search terms identified by the investigation for users in Spain, but that searches from other European countries could still lead to the material. TikTok did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The Spanish government’s move comes amid broader European scrutiny of social-media platforms over illegal content, child safety and the use of artificial intelligence to generate abusive imagery. Madrid had previously requested investigations involving X, Meta and TikTok over allegations that AI-generated child sexual abuse material was circulating online.
A suspension would represent a significant escalation and would require action through the relevant legal and regulatory processes. The immediate focus is on whether the company can remove the identified material, prevent it from reappearing and demonstrate that its search and recommendation systems are not directing users towards illegal content.