European Commission Vice-President Vera Jourová “counts on” the popular short video app TikTok to “make an extra effort to comply with European data protection laws and regain the trust of European regulators”.
“There should be no doubt whatsoever that the data of users in Europe is safe,” she said after a meeting with TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in Brussels.
TikTok is under fire, among other things, because certain company employees would have access to American users’ data. Data from journalists would also have been used to detect leaks in the company. According to the committee, Chew said those employees no longer work at TikTok.
Jourová spoke to TikTok, which Chinese technology company ByteDance owns, about “concerns related to the protection of Europeans’ data, the safety of children on the platform, the spread of Russian disinformation on TikTok, and the transparency of paid political content.”, according to a report of the interview that was distributed by the committee afterwards.
Within two years, new EU rules on the control of illegal content on the internet will come into force for large tech companies.
Chew has said that TikTok is investing in combating hate speech and the spread of disinformation, according to the committee. “He emphasized that TikTok’s mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy.” Chew also spoke to other European Commissioners in Brussels, including Margrethe Vestager (Competition).
