European officials and regulators met with TikTok's CEO in Brussels, Belgium on Tuesday to discuss the new digital regulations regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, misinformation, and child safety. This meeting came as the application faced several investigations from the United States and other authorities from European countries.
Meeting with EU Officials
As the application faces several concerns, bans, and lawsuits, Associated Press reported that TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew met with four officials from the EU's executive missions to discuss concerns regarding data privacy, cybersecurity, misinformation, and child safety.
EU Vice President for Values and Transparency Věra Jourová stated that she believes transparency will be a key element to this problem. She added, "It's important for TikTok and other platforms to swiftly get ready for compliance with the Digital Services Act & Digital Markets Act."
I count on #TikTok to fully execute its commitments to go the extra mile in respecting EU law and regaining trust of European regulators.
— Věra Jourová (@VeraJourova) January 10, 2023
There cannot be any doubt that data of users in Europe are safe and not exposed to illegal access from third-country authorities. pic.twitter.com/csKdCSOeMi
The Digital Services Act's goal is to clean up content that is considered toxic from online platforms, while the Digital Markets Act will be the controller of power to big digital companies like TikTok.
Aside from discussing the new regulations, both parties discussed General Data Protection Regulation and data transfer obligations in reference to several reports of harvesting data being sent to Chinese authorities and surveillance in the United States.
Reuters reported that Jourová listed her specific concerns to Chew, including the EU's protection of personal data, child safety, and the spread of Russian disinformation like political advertising.
TikTok Public Policy and Government Relations Director Caroline Greer described the meeting as constructive and helpful for both the application and commission. As of now, their priority focuses on online safety and building trust.
Previous Investigations
TikTok is currently owned by a China-based company ByteDance. As per Yahoo! Finance, the company is required to provide the authorities of the country with any data when requested. This sparked several concerns not only for the United States but also for the European Union.
Last November, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyden confirmed that the application underwent multiple investigations regarding this matter, which was their response to the concerns that were raised by EU Parliament regarding potential data access.
The same month when TikTok confirmed publicly that their employees can go over users' information on the application. But the company clarified that the accusations regarding tracking locations and providing it to the Chinese authorities were false, as they only use this for giving recommendations to offer the best content for its users.
Chew described this as a "narrow set of non-sensitive" user data. He added that the Chinese government officials do not have any access to the mentioned data. But despite the clarifications, TikTok still faced scrutiny from critics and several authorities that fought for a much safer place for user data, for confidentiality purposes.
