Spain has ordered prosecutors to investigate social media platforms X, Meta and TikTok for the suspected spread of child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence, as European regulators step up pressure on tech giants over harmful and illegal content.
The announcement made by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez comes as part of a wider wave of measures against online platforms, with regulators accusing them of practices ranging from anti-competitive behavior in digital advertising to the deliberate design of addictive features.
The three companies mentioned by Sánchez did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
The measure – the first in a package of regulations for social networks that Sánchez presented at a government summit in Dubai earlier this month – was based on a technical report prepared by three ministries, his office later announced in a statement.
Government spokeswoman Elma Saiz told reporters that authorities "cannot allow algorithms to reinforce or harbor" such crimes, adding that the safety, privacy and dignity of children are at risk.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the Irish Data Protection Commission announced that it had opened a formal investigation into the xAI company's Grok chatbot on the X platform, regarding the processing of personal data and the possibility of generating harmful images and videos with sexual content, including of children.
This commission is the main EU regulator for X, as the US company's EU operations are based in Ireland.
One in five young people in Spain - mostly girls - say fake nude images of themselves were created by AI and distributed online when they were still minors, according to Sánchez's office, citing the children's rights organization Save the Children.
“These platforms are undermining the mental health, dignity and rights of our children,” Sánchez wrote in X. “The state cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end.”
He said the Ministry of Justice will ask prosecutors to "investigate the crimes that X, Meta and TikTok may be committing through the creation and distribution of child pornography using artificial intelligence."
Spain is not the only country cracking down on social media platforms. Other governments have launched investigations, imposed bans and sought safeguards in a growing global effort to curb illegal material online./Reuters
