Spanish watchdog opens TikTok probe but denies government demand to block app

Spain’s data protection watchdog has opened an investigation into alleged child sexual abuse material on TikTok, after a local news investigation reported explicit posts on the platform. The agency rejected the government’s request to temporarily block TikTok across Spain, saying it would consider measures aimed at specific unlawful content instead.

Maldita.es documented 1,183 explicit posts, and the watchdog plans to request the identified links and ask TikTok what it has done to remove the material. Spain’s attorney general has separately ordered a cybercrimes investigation. The watchdog said Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is TikTok’s lead privacy regulator in Europe, but it will share information with Irish and other European authorities.