Hate speech

TikTok to Open European Data Centers Amid Security Concerns

FEB 17 2023·Updated FEB 19 2023

Story

Image credit: Reuters [via The Straits Times]

The Facts

TikTok's general manager for operations in Europe, Rich Waterworth, said Friday that the company plans to open a second data center in Ireland via a third-party service provider as well as "a third data center in Europe to further complement our planned operations in Ireland."
The Straits Times
The openings come as TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has been trying to assure the EU that the short video-sharing app's user data cannot be accessed or manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
CNN
A top EU official last month warned TikTok and other tech giants with over 45M users that they would have to begin cleaning up illegal content and disinformation or potentially face billions in fines. Within the 27-nation bloc, TikTok has 125M users and, when including non-EU countries like the UK and Switzerland, 150M users.
Breitbart
The EU's Digital Services Act explicitly requires platforms to conduct risk management and auditing, share data with authorities and researchers, and adopt a code of conduct.
Reuters
The firms facing expanding scrutiny in Europe are Facebook with 255M users, Twitter with 100.9M, Apple with over 45M, Google's search services, and YouTube with 332M and 401.7M, respectively.
Breitbart
As EU officials have accused the platform of failing to deal with data, copyright, and harmful content problems, TikTok said Friday that it bolstered its staff to comply with the rules, claiming to have over 5K employees in Europe.
The Straits Times

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

TikTok has had to work hard to meet European regulation standards, but it has not taken their demands lightly and is in the final stages of security measure implementation. With over 5K workers continent-wide, the platform is growing the EU economy while simultaneously prioritizing user privacy.

Irishtimes

Narrative B

TikTok should not just be regulated, but completely banned from countries that wish to protect their youth from the prying eyes of the PRC. At the very least, as the app's main demographic is 16 to 24-year-olds, parents should be blocking their children from using this dangerous and unnecessary platform. The safety and security of nations in the West are at stake here.