Investigation uncovers more than 20,000 suspicious pedophile profiles on TikTok: Spain debates suspending the platform

The scale documented by the investigation

The Spanish foundation Maldita.es has published its third investigation into child sexual abuse on TikTok — a report titled “TikTok: the pedophile’s home”. Over 35 days, from September 11 to October 15, the team analyzed profiles, comments and livestreams, and also created its own accounts to test the algorithm’s response. According to the foundation, more than 20,000 profiles of potential pedophiles were identified, over 7,000 of them in Spanish, along with more than 1,000 videos of child sexual abuse that collectively amassed around 48 million views. Counting all categories in the report, the foundation speaks of approximately 26,000 accounts.

How the network operates and what the complaint test showed

The investigation identified 231 profiles posting 1,183 pieces of explicit content, 780 accounts using the network to find buyers, and more than 10,000 accounts requesting the exchange of sexual images in comments. It also documented 91 livestreams involving minors from 17 countries, in which viewers ask them to perform actions, sometimes of a sexual nature, for money; Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Russia appear most frequently. The foundation calls such profiles “true catalogs of child sexual exploitation” and notes that TikTok earns revenue from gifts users send during streams. “The abuse is not hidden in some corner, and it is not hard to find,” said the foundation’s co-founder and head, Clara Jiménez Cruz.

The platform’s response to complaints

Maldita.es sent TikTok a sample of 50 videos with explicit material that had garnered 8.9 million views: the platform removed five of them (10%) and blocked another 13 only for users in Spain. After 72 hours, 40% of the accounts that had posted these videos remained active. Of 35 posts containing requests for images of minors, two were removed, two were blocked in Spain, and 91% of the accounts were still operating three days later. On the final day of monitoring, 136 of the 231 profiles with explicit content (59%) were still online; the oldest material found was dated June and had remained accessible for more than four months. The foundation says it contacted TikTok before publication but received no response; there was also no public reaction from the platform at the time the article was published. According to Maldita.es, in May the foundation found that TikTok had agreed with 99% of its complaints but kept the accounts active.

The authorities’ response and TikTok’s position

After the results were published, the Ministry of Youth and Children, led by Sira Rego, sent the prosecutor’s office a document requesting an investigation into the documented activity of pedophiles on TikTok and measures to protect affected minors, and also requested an urgent meeting with the platform’s representatives in Spain. Rego did not rule out a temporary suspension of the service in the country if the authorities conclude that the platform fails to protect minors; the media describe such a measure as exceptional. According to lawyers cited by the press, a full suspension would require a sufficient legal basis, a proportionality assessment and the involvement of a judge. At the same time, Maldita.es, together with the law firm Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo, filed a complaint with the cybercrime prosecutor’s office, questioning TikTok’s compliance with the European Digital Services Act, which requires prompt action against illegal content and obliges the largest platforms to reduce risks to minors.

What TikTok says

TikTok requested all the investigation data from Maldita.es. Company sources told Spanish media that the lack of access to the full results makes it difficult to detect and remove such content and to prepare reports for law enforcement agencies, with which, they say, the company continues to cooperate. TikTok considers coordinated action necessary: according to its sources, distributors of such material constantly change their methods to avoid detection, which is why the company considers cooperation between organizations and agencies important.