Spain Demands Investigation into X, Meta, and TikTok for AI-Generated Child Pornography

The Spanish government has taken decisive legal action targeting the world's largest tech corporations. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced that the Council of Ministers will use powers derived from the prosecutor's statute to order an investigation into possible crimes committed on X, Meta, and TikTok platforms. The case involves the use of artificial intelligence tools for producing and distributing pedophilic materials. State authorities emphasize that the scale of the problem threatens the fundamental rights of the youngest citizens. Spain has been a European leader for years in tightening regulations on digital safety for minors, following high-profile cases related to cyberbullying and harassment in schools.The government's actions are a response to the growing number of cases involving so-called deepfakes, i.e., realistically looking images depicting real children in sexual situations. Prime Minister Sánchez stressed that the state cannot allow impunity for platforms that prioritize profit over children's safety. „These platforms harm the mental health, dignity, and rights of our sons and daughters. The state cannot allow this.” — Pedro Sánchez This initiative is attracting broad interest across the European Union, where work is underway to implement the Digital Services Act. art. 8 — Article 8 of the Prosecutor's Statute was invoked by the Spanish government Experts point out that proving corporate guilt may be difficult due to the distributed nature of generative intelligence, but political pressure from Madrid aims to force X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, and Meta (owner of Facebook and Instagram) to implement more effective safety filters. The preliminary investigation is to clarify whether these companies exercised due diligence in monitoring content published by users and whether their own AI models facilitate the creation of prohibited materials.