Wire reporting: (Reuters, via CNA)

Spain’s government on Tuesday said TikTok should suspend operations in the country until child sexual abuse material is removed from the platform, according to a Reuters account carried by CNA^1,2.

Youth Minister Sira Rego’s ministry cannot ban TikTok on its own and has asked prosecutors and the Data Protection Agency to act, that account said^1,2.

Al Jazeera reported that the ministry also demanded an urgent meeting with TikTok’s representatives in Spain after an independent investigation by the nonprofit Maldita.es³.

Maldita.es said it monitored TikTok for 35 days in September and October and found more than 1,000 child sexual abuse videos totaling about 48 million views³.

The group said it detected more than 20,000 suspected predator profiles, including thousands in Spanish, and later put the combined account total around 26,000, which it said it handed to authorities³.

Al Jazeera reported that Maldita.es accused TikTok of amplifying minors’ content and of taking a cut of virtual gifts tied to sexualized requests; the exact share was not established³.

The investigation said the algorithm recommended livestreams by minors, including broadcasts recorded from schools, Al Jazeera reported³.

When the findings were published Monday, Maldita.es said TikTok had removed about one-tenth of the content it flagged and had blocked about a quarter of illegal posts in Spain³.

CNA’s Reuters copy said a Tuesday follow-up from Maldita.es found TikTok had restricted two search terms in Spain that the investigation had identified, while searches from other European countries still led to the same material¹.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a comment request described in that Reuters account^1,2.

Al Jazeera noted TikTok has faced other lawsuits and probes over child safety, which the company has denied, and that the European Union last week told TikTok to change its personalized For You feed or risk fines³.

Spain’s government had earlier asked for a probe of X, Meta and TikTok over alleged AI-generated child sexual abuse material, CNA reported¹.