On November 10, Maldita.es reported that TikTok search results had been restricted for some users and search variants in Spain, and that some reported videos had begun to be removed. The same searches remained accessible in other countries. Maldita.es’s update also said the organization found 100 more posts in three hours and passed them to the prosecutor’s office.
A restriction affecting some searches in Spain is different from a suspension of the service.
What the investigation counted
Maldita.es monitored TikTok for 35 days during September and October 2026, examining profiles, comments and livestreams and using test accounts, Al Jazeera reported. The investigation reported more than 20,000 suspected profiles, including 7,000 that were Spanish-speaking. Language does not establish where an account holder lives.
Al Jazeera also reported that combining categories in the investigation produced a total of about 26,000 accounts. That figure describes reported accounts, not a count of confirmed offenders or distinct people. Other categories included 1,183 explicit content items across 231 profiles, 780 accounts used to attract buyers and more than 10,000 accounts requesting exchanges of sexual images in comments.
Test accounts received 19 recommendations for livestreams by minors over three days, including 15 in one morning, according to Al Jazeera’s account of the findings. The investigation also reported more than 1,000 videos and 48 million views. These are separate reported measures; the 1,183 content items are not established as the same unit as the video count.
Spain requested a suspension; no order was reported
Spain’s Ministry of Youth and Children asked the country’s data-protection agency to consider temporarily suspending TikTok. After meeting the company’s representatives, Minister Sira Rego also urged TikTok to suspend its service voluntarily. Al Jazeera’s November 10 report described a request, not an issued suspension order.
TikTok told Al Jazeera it would study and evaluate the findings, without committing to an audit or new verification measures.
TikTok’s stated child-safety process
TikTok says its Child Safety Team removes child sexual exploitation and abuse (CSEA) material, bans violating accounts and reports cases to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). Its transparency page lists global figures for July through December 2025: 1,497,003 CyberTipline reports, 1,795,565 content items reported to NCMEC and 918,659 account bans for CSEA violations. Those company-reported totals cover TikTok globally, not Maldita.es’s Spain monitoring period. TikTok’s transparency report also describes the company’s stated reporting process.
TikTok directs people who encounter suspected child sexual abuse material to its illegal-content reporting channel, a trusted organization or local law enforcement through its age-appropriate experiences guidance.
