Beijing responded on Friday to an investigation initiated by an Irish regulator, which assists the European Union in regulating data privacy, concerning the Chinese social media platform TikTok. The investigation followed allegations that the platform was asked to collect and store user's personal information illegally.
A foreign ministry spokeswoman stated that the Chinese government prioritizes and safeguards data privacy and security, adhering to legal frameworks. She emphasized that the government has never and will not require companies or individuals to engage in the illegal collection or storage of data.
The spokeswoman expressed hope that European authorities would uphold market economy principles and fair competition, creating a just and non-discriminatory business environment for companies from all nations.
The social media platform has faced scrutiny from Western governments for years due to concerns that user data could be exploited by China for espionage or propaganda. TikTok has consistently maintained that it has never received requests from Chinese authorities for European user data.
In May, TikTok was fined €530 million by the Data Protection Commission for transferring personal data to China. The platform maintained that the data was only accessed remotely. TikTok, a division of the Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has a global user base of 1.5 billion.
7 Comments
Habibi
Hoping for a fair investigation is the way to go. Let's see the evidence.
Coccinella
The data privacy focus is a good thing. I trust them.
ZmeeLove
TikTok is a great platform. I hope this settles down and everything is fine.
Donatello
They're playing the victim card, but the evidence is mounting against them.
Michelangelo
Non-discriminatory business environment"? Says the country that controls its own tech giants.
Raphael
I think they are a trustworthy platform. It is too easy to accuse people.
Donatello
China always says the same thing. Actions speak louder than words, and their actions are suspect.