Spanish government seeks probe into X, Meta, TikTok over AI child abuse content

Spain’s leftist government on Tuesday said it would ask prosecutors to investigate X, Meta and TikTok for possible offences related to AI-generated child abuse content, as an international backlash grows against such tools.

Separate probes in Britain, France, the European Union and California have been launched over sexualised deepfakes created by X’s AI chatbot Grok and amid a wider debate about regulating artificial intelligence.

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on X that his government would request the public prosecutor’s office to investigate the three tech platforms for offences “they may be committing by creating and spreading child pornography through their AI”.

“These platforms are harming the mental health, dignity and rights of our sons and daughters. The state cannot allow it. The impunity of (tech) giants must end,” Sanchez wrote.

One in five young people in Spain say they have been victim of fake nude images generated by AI while they were minors, with girls especially affected, Sanchez’s office said in a statement.

Sanchez is an outspoken critic of leading tech figures he calls “techno-oligarchs”, and has called for tighter regulation of their platforms to combat disinformation, violent content and pornography.

Earlier this month, he sparred with X owner Elon Musk and Telegram founder Pavel Durov after announcing a plan to ban social media for under-16s.