Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain said on Tuesday that his government will ask prosecutors to investigate social media giants X, Meta and TikTok for allegedly spreading child sexual abuse material generated by artificial intelligence, the latest salvo in a Europe-wide effort to regulate big tech companies.
“These platforms are undermining the mental health, dignity, and rights of our children,” Mr. Sánchez wrote on social media. “The state cannot allow this. The impunity of these giants must end.”
X and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment. After the French police raided the Paris offices of X in connection with similar accusations, the company said it “categorically denies any wrongdoing.”
The Spanish announcement intensifies a growing dispute between European governments and American tech companies, which have been backed by the Trump administration over efforts on the continent to limit the industry.
The clash has revealed starkly different visions between the United States and its tech giants and the European Union and its member states over what counts as protected speech, and the role of corporations in guaranteeing the welfare of those affected by their platforms. Europe has become a central experiment for the ability of democratic governments to regulate and effectively penalize one of the world’s most dominant industries. In December, the European Union issued the first fine under its new Digital Services Act, penalizing X, the social media platform owned by Elon Musk, for 120 million euros, about $140 million, for violations. This month, French police searched the local offices of X as part of the French cybercrime division’s own investigation into the spread of child pornography and Holocaust denial on the site.
Britain’s data protection regulator has also announced an investigation into X over sexually explicit images generated by its A.I. chatbot, Grok. Ireland’s Data Protection Commission also said on Tuesday that it had opened an investigation into whether Grok had allowed pornographic images of children to spread on the platform.
European leaders say their efforts are aimed at protecting citizens from abuse, rather than an attempt — as American politicians and tech leaders have argued — to limit free speech.
Mr. Sánchez, a left-wing leader who has not been shy about challenging Mr. Trump or the American tech giants, asked prosecutors to “investigate the crimes that X, Meta, and TikTok may be committing through the creation and dissemination of child pornography using their AI.”
This month, Spain joined France, Denmark and Australia in seeking to ban social media for children under the age of 16, with Mr. Sánchez saying, “We will protect them from the digital Wild West.”
His government’s proposed ban still requires parliamentary approval. But the proposed measure, and Mr. Sánchez referring to “crimes committed” by Grok, immediately triggered a vulgar and personally targeted attack against Mr. Sánchez by Mr. Musk.
Some Spanish political analysts suggested that it was just the reaction hoped for by Mr. Sánchez, who has sought to position himself as a liberal leader on a global stage as he faces deep political divisions and scandals at home.