The Prosecution Service files a complaint against TikTok with the judge and demands the urgent removal of content depicting child sexual abuse

As of November 13, 2026, TikTok is not under precautionary suspension in Spain. The request from the Ministry of Youth and Childhood has not become a closure order. Actions are progressing through three different channels: data protection, criminal investigation, and European supervision, each with its own authorities and requirements.

Current status of Spanish actions

The Ministry referred the facts to the Prosecutor's Office on November 9 and announced on the 10th that it would request urgent intervention from the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD). The origin is an investigation by Maldita.es regarding alleged dissemination of child sexual abuse material. As Demócrata explained about the request, the Government cannot unilaterally order the suspension.

The AEPD has requested information from TikTok about the removal of the reported content. According to subsequent reports, it has so far ruled out shutting down the entire platform and is focusing its intervention on specific content, links, and profiles. The information will also be forwarded to the competent European authorities, especially the Irish one, which is primarily responsible for TikTok's privacy supervision (AEPD actions).

In parallel, the Prosecutor's Office opened proceedings and, according to the Demócrata news from November 13, has reported the facts to the judge and requested the urgent removal of content. This judicial progress does not equate to a general suspension nor does it prove that the judge has ordered a shutdown.

Possible legal steps

• Verify the facts and measures taken. TikTok must explain its response to the reported content. The criminal investigation must determine possible crimes and responsibilities; the measures requested before the judge require a judicial decision.
• Adopt specific data protection measures. The AEPD can focus its action on unlawful processing of minors' data. Removing material or blocking profiles is different from blocking access to the entire service.
• Consider an exceptional urgent intervention. Article 66.1 of the General Data Protection Regulation allows national provisional measures for a maximum of three months when exceptional circumstances and urgency concur. It does not automatically establish platform closure: it requires justifying which processing is restricted, why, and with what proportionality. Measures must be communicated to European authorities; urgent definitive measures require the intervention of the European Data Protection Board.

There is also the Digital Services Act (DSA) route. According to the legal analysis by Demócrata, its article 51.3.b contemplates requesting a judicial restriction as a last resort, after exhausting other measures and in the face of a persistent infringement causing serious harm and constituting a crime threatening life or safety.

This procedure requires a prior correction request to the platform's management and, except for certain Commission requests, at least two weeks for observations. The initial restriction would be four weeks, extendable judicially. There is no record that this general blocking procedure has been activated.

The European procedure is independent

The European Commission communicated on November 6 preliminary conclusions about “For You”. Now it is TikTok's defense, consultation with the European Digital Services Body, and a possible non-compliance decision with fines up to 6% of annual global turnover. It is not a suspension order.

In short, the next milestone is to resolve the specific requested measures and complete investigations, not to execute an already approved shutdown. This case should also not be confused with TikTok Lite Rewards: its permanent removal was made binding in August 2024 and affected the rewards program, not the entire platform.

Sira Rego, as Minister of Youth and Childhood, exercises the highest leadership of the department responsible for state policies on youth and child protection. To understand her powers, it is necessary to distinguish between her political leadership role and the administrative tasks assigned by regulations to the ministry's bodies.

1. Legal basis and general competence

The Ministry of Youth and Childhood was created by Royal Decree 829/2023, of November 20. Its organization and distribution of functions are developed in Royal Decree 211/2024, of February 27, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of February 28.

Article 1.1 of the latter establishes that the ministry is responsible for "the proposal and execution of the Government's policy on youth and the protection of minors." Its article 1.2 provides that these functions are carried out "under the superior direction of the head of the Department."

Therefore, the powers belong to the office and the department, not personally to Sira Rego. Her responsibility consists of directing their exercise within the scope established by legislation.

2. Functions of the minister

As the highest political authority of the ministry, her functions include:

• Directing the department's actions: setting its general lines and promoting youth, childhood, and adolescence policies.
• Promoting regulatory and strategic initiatives: driving proposals and submitting to the Council of Ministers those whose approval corresponds to the Government.
• Supervising dependent bodies: guiding the actions of the Secretariat of State and the Undersecretariat, respecting the powers of each body.
• Promoting institutional coordination: fostering cooperation with other ministries, public administrations, and institutions in matters within her competence.
• Controlling the department's activity: supported by the Undersecretariat for action plans, effectiveness control, and evaluation of public policies.

The institutional information on functions outlines the department's material scope; the royal decree specifies how its exercise is distributed.

3. Areas of action

The ministerial responsibility covers promoting youth policies and the comprehensive protection of the rights of children and adolescents. It includes preventing situations of need or vulnerability, promoting actions against violence, and encouraging child and youth participation.

It also includes strategic planning and institutional and interterritorial cooperation. Article 2 of Royal Decree 211/2024 assigns to the Secretariat of State, under the minister's authority, the promotion, development, and coordination of these policies, as well as participation in international and European Union bodies related to them.

4. How these powers are executed

• Secretariat of State for Youth and Childhood: promotes and coordinates substantive policies. The Directorate General for the Rights of Children and Adolescents depends on it.
• Youth Institute, Injuve: is attached to the ministry through the Secretariat of State and retains the functions established in its specific regulations.
• Undersecretariat: manages common services and provides support in legal matters, budgets, personnel, inspection, and administrative planning. The Technical General Secretariat depends on it.

5. Limits of her actions

The minister does not concentrate all public powers affecting youth or minors. Article 1.3 requires exercising the department's powers in coordination and without prejudice to those corresponding to other ministries. Therefore, directing child protection policy does not automatically imply assuming the powers of other bodies in education, health, justice, or digital supervision.

For the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD) to adopt provisional measures against a digital platform like TikTok, a series of requirements must be met, mainly derived from the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), the LOPDGDD (Spanish Data Protection Law), and the general administrative sanctioning procedure regulations in Spain.

1. Competence and applicable legal framework

• AEPD as supervisory authority: it must be competent to act under Articles 51 and 55 GDPR and the LOPDGDD. For services like TikTok operating in multiple Member States, there is usually a “one-stop-shop” mechanism (Article 56 GDPR), typically with a lead authority in another EU country. In this context:
  • The AEPD can act fully if TikTok does not fall under the “one-stop-shop” (for example, if it has no main establishment in another Member State regarding the processing concerned).
  • If there is a lead authority in another Member State, the AEPD can adopt urgent provisional measures based on Article 66 GDPR to protect persons in Spain, even without waiting for the ordinary cooperation procedure.
• Applicable regulations: the measures are mainly framed within:
  • Article 58 GDPR (corrective powers, including the possibility to limit or order suspension of processing).
  • Article 66 GDPR (urgent procedure for provisional measures in cross-border contexts).
  • LOPDGDD and sanctioning procedure legislation (Law 39/2015 and Law 40/2015), which complete the regime of precautionary measures in Spain.

2. Existence of sufficient indications of infringement

The AEPD cannot adopt provisional measures purely preventively or abstractly: it needs a minimal indicative basis that a GDPR or LOPDGDD infringement is occurring or imminent. In practice:

• There must be a prior investigation or initiated procedure (ex officio or by complaint/claim) in which sufficient data have been gathered to appreciate at least a reasonable appearance of illegality in the processing (e.g., unlawful processing of minors' data, lack of sufficient legal basis, breach of transparency principles, etc.).
• The provisional measure is justified because, if the situation persists while the file is processed, serious or difficult-to-repair damage could occur to users' rights.

3. Urgency and serious risk to users' rights

The decisive element is urgency combined with serious risk:

• A serious and imminent risk of fundamental rights violation must be demonstrated (in this context, the right to data protection and, where applicable, other rights such as moral integrity or child protection).
• For a massive platform like TikTok, the AEPD usually grounds this urgency on:
  • The enormous scale of processing (millions of users or a very significant number of minors in Spain).
  • The especially sensitive or invasive nature of the processing (profiles of minors, intensive tracking, possible exploitation of vulnerabilities, etc.).
  • The fact that, if immediate action is not taken, negative effects could multiply or become irreversible (mass dissemination of content, profile consolidation, transfers to third parties, etc.).

4. Necessity, proportionality, and adequacy of the measure

Provisional measures must respect the principles of necessity and proportionality provided both in the GDPR and Spanish administrative law:

• The measure must be suitable to prevent or minimize harm (e.g., limiting certain functionalities, temporarily suspending certain processing, blocking registrations of minors, etc.).
• It must be necessary: no less restrictive measure offering equivalent protection in the same timeframe should exist (e.g., simple information requests that do not prevent immediate harm).
• It must be strictly proportionate: the sacrifice imposed on the platform (economic, reputational, operational impact) must bear a reasonable relation to the severity and likelihood of the harm intended to be avoided.
• Additionally, the measure must be temporary:
  • Under Article 66 GDPR, urgent measures adopted by a non-lead authority can only last a maximum of three months.
  • Within the internal sanctioning framework, precautionary measures remain while urgency reasons persist and until the resolution concluding the procedure is issued, but always as provisional and reviewable solutions.

5. Minimum procedural guarantees

Even if provisional, basic guarantees of the sanctioning procedure must be respected:

• Enhanced motivation: the resolution adopting the measure must precisely explain:
  • The indicative facts detected.
  • The allegedly breached rules.
  • The reasons for urgency and serious risk.
  • Why the chosen measure is necessary and proportionate.
• Hearing of the affected entity: generally, a hearing procedure must be granted (even if abbreviated). Only in cases of extreme urgency can the measure be adopted without prior hearing, but in that case a subsequent hearing procedure must be opened as soon as possible so the platform can defend itself.
• Possibility of appeal: TikTok or another platform can appeal the measure administratively and judicially, which also conditions the content and motivation of the resolution.

6. European coordination in cross-border processing

When the case is cross-border (usual in large platforms), the AEPD must:

• Communicate its provisional measures to the lead authority and the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) if acting under Article 66 GDPR.
• Justify that the territorial scope of the measure is limited to those affected in Spain and that it is adopted pending the final coordinated decision at the European level.

In summary, the AEPD can only adopt provisional measures against TikTok if it is competent, there are serious indications of infringement, urgency and serious risk concur, the measure is necessary and proportionate, it is adequately motivated, respects minimum guarantees of hearing and appeal, and, where applicable, is coordinated with other European authorities according to the GDPR.