Key facts
- Spain's youth and children's ministry asked the data protection authority to temporarily suspend TikTok.
- The request followed a nonprofit investigation that identified thousands of accounts offering or seeking child sexual abuse material.
- The ministry wants TikTok to remove the material and cooperate with prosecutors.
- The ministry also wants a verifiable report confirming the cleanup.
- The ministry cannot order a suspension itself and asked Spain's prosecutor general to seek one.
Spain's youth and children's ministry asked the country's data protection authority on Tuesday to temporarily suspend TikTok, after a nonprofit investigation identified thousands of accounts offering or seeking child sexual abuse material.
The ministry wants TikTok to remove the material, cooperate with prosecutors and provide a verifiable report confirming the cleanup. It cannot order a suspension itself and has also asked Spain's prosecutor general to seek one.
The report did not name the nonprofit behind the investigation, and TikTok's response to the request was not stated.