As European regulators step up their monitoring of big tech over dangerous and unlawful content, Spain has ordered prosecutors to look into social media sites X, Meta, and TikTok for allegedly disseminating AI-generated child sexual abuse material.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s announcement coincides with a broader assault on online platforms, as authorities accuse them of engaging in behaviors ranging from purposeful creation of addictive features to anti-competitive behavior in digital advertising.
Email inquiries for comment were not immediately answered by the three businesses Sanchez mentioned.
According to a statement later released by his office, the action was based on a technical assessment from three ministries and was the first of a set of social media laws. Sanchez revealed it at a government meeting in Dubai earlier this month.
Authorities “cannot allow algorithms to amplify or shelter” such crimes, government spokesman Elma Saiz told reporters, putting children’s safety, privacy, and dignity at jeopardy.
Ireland’s Data Protection Commission announced separately on Tuesday that it has launched a formal inquiry into X’s xAI chatbot Grok due to its processing of personal data and its ability to produce pornographic photos and videos, including those of children.
Since the U.S. company’s EU operations are based in Ireland, the DPC is the primary EU regulator for Elon Musk’s X.
GLOBAL TECH PLATFORM SCRUTINY
Sanchez’s office stated, citing rights organization Save the Children, that one in five young people in Spain, primarily females, claim that artificial intelligence (AI) produced and circulated phony nude photos of themselves online when they were underage.
These platforms are compromising our children’s rights, dignity, and mental health,” Sanchez wrote on X. “The government cannot tolerate this. These titans’ impunity must stop.
He stated that prosecutors would be asked to “investigate the crimes that X, Meta, and TikTok may be committing through the creation and dissemination of child pornography using their AI” by the Justice Ministry.
The crackdown on social media platforms is not unique to Spain.
In a growing worldwide effort to stop illicit content, other governments have launched investigations, issued bans, and requested protections.
Under the EU’s Digital Services Act, the European Commission is looking into Meta, TikTok, and Grok.
Meanwhile, Canada, France, and Brazil have complained about Grok for distributing illicit information.
Sanchez proposed banning minors under 16 from using social media two weeks ago as part of new measures to combat internet abuse and safeguard children.
Prosecutors ordered the billionaire to be questioned in a growing inquiry after French police raided Musk’s X offices the same day.
Sanchez stated in November that Meta would be looked at by Spain’s government for potential privacy infractions involving users of Facebook and Instagram.
Compared to just 13 in 2024, the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation reported 3,440 AI films of child sexual abuse last year.
