The dimension of the problem that Maldita.es is documenting on TikTok goes far beyond the videos of child sexual abuse that remain accessible on the platform. During 35 days of investigation, the foundation has identified 26,271 profiles related, through different behaviors and indications, to the search, distribution, commercialization or exchange of this material and to the sexual harassment of minors. The figure constitutes the main finding of the fourth installment of “TikTok, the home of the pedophile”a journalistic investigation that is questioning the effectiveness of the social network’s moderation and child protection mechanisms.

The work, published on November 9 and whose fifth and final installment is scheduled for tomorrow, November 13, has been revealing different dimensions of the problem. The first publication documented more than 1,180 videos of explicit child sexual abuse that accumulated 48 million views. The second exposed how minors carried out live broadcasts in which they received sexual requests from adults, sometimes in exchange for virtual gifts. The third analyzed the operation of the search engine and the recommendation algorithm that, according to tests carried out by Maldita.es, facilitated the discovery of content and accounts linked to child sexual abuse.

Now, the fourth installment expands the focus from individual posts to the users who participate in these activities. And the data points to a problem that, according to the foundation, cannot be explained solely by the presence of content that has escaped the moderation filters.

The investigation has already had institutional consequences. The State Attorney General’s Office has opened proceedings to investigate possible crimes related to child sexual abuse on TikTok, while the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) has announced actions to block specific illicit content. In addition, Maldita.es assures that TikTok has modified the filters of its search engine on a global scale after the publication of its first findings.

More than 26,000 profiles identified in 35 days

Maldita.es has classified a total of 26,271 TikTok accounts as profiles of potential pedophiles, a name it uses to group different behaviors related to child sexual abuse. It should be noted that this journalistic classification is not equivalent to a judicial identification of its owners nor does it imply that all of them have committed the same acts.

To build this database, the team has combined manual account identification with the analysis of thousands of comments posted on videos and live broadcasts. In this second phase, an artificial intelligence agent has been used to classify the interventions according to their nature and severity. The results are distributed in two large sets:

• Identified profiles: 26,271 related to the analyzed behaviors
• Comments analyzed: 31,979 in publications and monitored live streams

The first group includes 1,801 profiles identified by their direct activity. It includes 267 accounts that shared explicit content of child sexual abuse, 1,089 that showed non-explicit content linked to these abuses and provided contact channels to acquire material, and another 455 that used terms associated with these networks without showing a visible sales channel. The classification also includes profiles that request sexual content from minors or impersonate them.

The second set brings together 24,470 profiles detected through their comments. Maldita.es distinguishes between those who offer child sexual abuse material and provide contact channels for its acquisition, those who sexually harass minors during live broadcasts and those who request or propose exchanges of this content without meeting the criteria of the previous categories.

The data shows that the documented activity is not limited to those who directly publish images or videos. It also includes a community of users who, through comments and interactions, contribute to maintaining the circulation and demand for this material.

More than 1,000 accounts sell child sexual abuse material

The fourth installment also delves into the relationship between TikTok and other messaging applications. Maldita.es has identified more than 1,000 profiles that use the social network to announce the availability of child sexual abuse material and direct those interested to external channels, mainly Telegram and Zangi, although connections with WhatsApp have also been detected.
According to the investigation, these profiles together accumulate around six million followers, a figure that illustrates their potential reach, although it does not allow us to determine how many followers are unique users or how many participate in illicit activities.

Among the identified accounts, 978 belong to a community that uses coded references known to researchers, while another 75 use different terminology linked to distribution networks of child abuse material.

The investigation describes how some profiles publish images, references to available content or instructions to establish contact with sellers. In certain cases, researchers were able to verify that users offered catalogs and prices through TikTok private messages, without having to initially transfer the conversation to another application.

One of the most significant findings concerns account moderation. Maldita.es documented a profile suspended by TikTok that continued to appear among the first results of its search engine, with visible information that allowed contact with a seller through an external service. The foundation verified that the suspension had not prevented this profile from continuing to function as an access point for the marketing of the material.

The investigation also detected publications that facilitated access to external groups through QR codes and other contact mechanisms.
These examples support one of the main conclusions of the work: TikTok would not only be failing by removing certain content, but also by preventing its search infrastructure, profiles and messaging from being used to connect those who search for child sexual abuse material with those who distribute it.

Although part of the exchanges occur in external applications, the investigation indicates that user acquisition and advertising of distribution channels are carried out within TikTok.

A problem that affects the search engine and moderation

The findings of this fourth installment become more relevant when related to the previous publications in the series. Maldita.es had already documented that TikTok’s search and recommendation systems could facilitate the discovery of accounts related to child sexual abuse, even for users who were starting new profiles.

In one of their tests, the researchers observed that, after conditioning an account during the analysis period, 17 of the first 20 videos recommended when opening the application were related to child sexual abuse, including explicit and non-explicit content.
They also detected a community of more than 2,000 profiles that glorified a person convicted of sexually abusing a baby, and verified that certain searches returned videos of sexualized minors.

Added to this is the limited effectiveness of the moderation observed in the complaints presented. Of an initial sample of 50 videos reported to TikTok, the platform removed five, while other content was geographically restricted, considered in compliance with its standards, or remained unanswered at that stage of monitoring. The data corresponds to the checks carried out during the investigation and does not allow us to extrapolate a general moderation rate for the entire platform. However, they illustrate the specific deficiencies that Maldita.es has been able to document.

According to the foundation, TikTok has subsequently modified its search engine filters globally in relation to some of the terms identified in the investigation. The organization interprets this change as a demonstration that there was technical capacity to restrict certain results.

The modification represents a first reaction from the platform, although it does not in itself prove that the accounts, distribution channels or reported content have been eliminated.

The Prosecutor’s Office opens an investigation and the AEPD announces measures

The publication of “TikTok, the home of the pedophile” has provoked a response from Spanish institutions.

On November 11, the State Attorney General, Teresa Peramato, signed a decree instructing Elvira Tejada, prosecutor of the Coordinating Chamber against Computer Crime, to investigate possible crimes related to the production and dissemination of child sexual abuse material and the corruption of minors on TikTok.
The Prosecutor’s Office has confirmed that the proceedings have their origin in the complaint filed by the Maldita.es Foundation. Those responsible appeared to ratify it and provide the evidence collected during the investigation.

As explained by the organization, it delivered approximately one terabyte of evidentiary material, which includes both the content and behaviors detected and TikTok’s responses to the complaints made.
“It is good news that it is being investigated because what is happening is unacceptable”said Clara Jiménez Cruz, CEO of the Maldita.es Foundation, who insists that the solution cannot be limited to specific actions on certain content.

For its part, the Spanish Data Protection Agency has initiated actions within its powers and has requested from Maldita.es the list of links in which illicit processing of minors’ personal data could be taking place. The AEPD will also require information from TikTok about the measures adopted to remove the reported content and, once analyzed, plans to order the blocking of specific links and publications that violate data protection regulations.

The Agency’s position differs from the request made by the Ministry of Youth and Children, which had demanded the precautionary suspension of TikTok in Spain. The AEPD has opted for specific actions on content, remembering that the adoption of general restrictions on access to a service corresponds, in general, to the judicial sphere and that its powers are delimited by European regulations.
The body will also transfer the information to the data protection authority of Ireland, the country where TikTok has its main establishment in Europe, and to the competent European institutions, including the European Commission.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has celebrated the opening of proceedings and has warned that no platform is above the law.

TikTok, for its part, maintains that it has taken measures to identify and remove the reported content and has expressed its willingness to collaborate with the authorities.

The Maldita.es investigation will conclude tomorrow, November 13, with a fifth installment that will close a series dedicated to examining how a global platform can host child sexual abuse content, facilitate contact between users linked to its distribution and allow situations of harassment of minors despite having rules that prohibit this behavior.