The investment decision comes amid long-standing pressure from European and American authorities over concerns about the Chinese government’s potential access to user data through TikTok owner ByteDance.

The new data center will be part of TikTok’s strategy to strengthen data security in Europe. In 2023, the company has already announced the launch of Project Clover, a long-term initiative to ensure digital security and data localization. As part of the project, TikTok plans to invest around 12 billion euros over ten years.

Despite this, a number of government agencies still treat TikTok with mistrust. In European countries, as well as in the European Parliament and the European Commission, the application is banned on work devices. In the US, authorities are considering a complete ban on the service if ByteDance does not sell the American part of the business.

Source: South China Morning Post