In a significant escalation of regulatory scrutiny, Spain's leftist government has formally requested prosecutors to investigate social media giants X, Meta, and TikTok for their alleged roles in the generation and dissemination of child sexual abuse material through AI technologies. This request, made on February 18, 2026, emphasizes the urgent need to protect 'the mental health, dignity, and rights of our sons and daughters' and to end the 'impunity' of these companies. The investigation is part of a broader European initiative to combat online abuse and protect minors from harmful digital environments, focusing on determining potential criminal liability for these platforms regarding their AI's involvement in such content generation (The Hindu).