China denies requiring TikTok to illegally share European users' data
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Beijing: Following the European Union's decision to fin TikTok for illegally transferring European users’ data to Chinese authorities, Beijing denied on Saturday that it required the social media platform to do the same. On Friday, the EU fined TikTok $600 million over the data transfer to Beijing and over failing to guarantee that the app is shielded from access by Chinese authorities, Agence France-Presse reported.
However, the Chinese-owned social media platform would appeal the EU’s decision.
On Saturday, Beijing said that it has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to collect or store data by illegal means. It urged the European Union and Ireland to provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises of all countries, AFP reports.
TikTok is a division of Chinese firm ByteDance and has its European headquarters in Dublin, the Irish capital. It’s Ireland's Data Protection Commission, the lead regulator for TikTok in Europe.
TikTok has faced scrutiny in many countries over national security concerns that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government and worries the platform could spread misinformation.
Thus, many countries banned the platform for varying periods, including Pakistan, Nepal, and France, in the territory of New Caledonia.
Friday's fine is expected to increase pressure on the social network in the United States.
In 2024, the US Congress passed a law mandating ByteDance to divest control of TikTok in the United States or be banned from the country. US President Donald Trump has postponed twice the deadline set for the sale of the social network, which has 170 million American users.
