Spain’s government announced Tuesday it will request prosecutors to investigate X, Meta, and TikTok for potential offenses related to the proliferation of AI-generated child sexual abuse material on their platforms, escalating international scrutiny of the technology and the social media companies’ response.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez revealed the move on X, stating his government would ask the public prosecutor’s office to examine whether the three tech firms have committed crimes by “creating and spreading child pornography through their AI.” Sánchez wrote that these platforms are “harming the mental health, dignity and rights of our sons and daughters” and that “the impunity of (tech) giants must end.”
The announcement follows reports that one in five young people in Spain say they have been victims of AI-generated fake nude images created while they were minors, with girls disproportionately affected, according to a statement from Sánchez’s office.
This action comes amid a broader wave of investigations into the use of artificial intelligence to create non-consensual intimate imagery. Separate probes have been launched in Britain, France, the European Union, and California, focusing on sexualized deepfakes generated by X’s AI chatbot, Grok, and the wider debate surrounding the regulation of artificial intelligence, according to Reuters.
Sánchez has been a vocal critic of major technology companies and their leaders, referring to them as “techno-oligarchs” and advocating for stricter regulation to combat disinformation, violent content, and pornography. Earlier this month, he publicly clashed with Elon Musk, owner of X, and Pavel Durov, founder of Telegram, after proposing a ban on social media access for individuals under the age of 16. Currently, platforms like Facebook and TikTok require users to be at least 13 years old.
The Spanish government’s move reflects a growing trend of European regulators intensifying their scrutiny of Big Tech companies, alleging abusive practices ranging from anti-competitive behavior in digital advertising to the deliberate design of addictive features on social media platforms, as reported by the New York Times.
As of Tuesday evening, representatives for X, Meta, and TikTok had not issued public responses to the Spanish government’s announcement. The Spanish public prosecutor’s office has not yet confirmed whether it will formally open an investigation.
