• Ar
  • Es
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Feature
  • Videos
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Feature
Videos
Infographs
In Pictures
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Asia Europe
  4. TikTok CEO reassures EU on privacy, child safety rules
Asia

TikTok CEO reassures EU on privacy, child safety rules

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 10 Jan 22:21

The European Union voices concerns about TikTok's operations in Europe, and the ByteDance app assures the bloc that it will continue complying with its regulations.

  • TikTok CEO  Shou Zi Chew (Bloomberg)
    TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew (Bloomberg)

TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew arrived in Brussels on Tuesday, seeking to reassure the European Union that his app, which has been making a run for the top social media platform for years now, would respect the bloc's tech rules and commitments to privacy and child safety.

The Chinese ByteDance social media app has been fighting tooth and nail for years in the US to assure Washington that users' personal data was not in jeopardy.

In December, following concerns from the FBI director and cybersecurity experts that China may exploit the social media platform to allegedly spy on US citizens, Senator Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and a bipartisan pair of congressmen in the House, proposed a bill that would prohibit TikTok in the United States.

TikTok has been under more pressure lately after admitting last month that some of its employees had improperly accessed the user data of two journalists to try to identify the source of information leaks to the media.

However, TikTok has not been receiving as much scrutiny as its American counterparts due to the major violations the latter are committing in contrast. This might not be the case for long as the 27-nation bloc seeks to tighten its hold on social media and police it further while curbing Big Tech's power.

Chew's series of meetings in Brussels began with EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager, who said: "The objective of the meeting with TikTok was to review how the company is preparing for complying with its obligations under the European Commission's regulation, namely the Digital Services Act (DSA) and possibly under the Digital Markets Act (DMA)."

"At the meeting, the parties also discussed GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) and matters of privacy and data transfer obligations with a reference to the recent press reporting on aggressive data harvesting and surveillance in the US," the EU statement added.

Meanwhile, Values and Transparency Commissioner Vera Jourova underlined her concerns to Chew, which include the protection of Europeans' personal data, child safety, and the spread of "disinformation" on the platform as well as the transparency of political advertising.

"I count on TikTok to fully execute its commitments to go the extra mile in respecting EU law and regaining the trust of European regulators," she said in a statement after the meeting.

Moreover, EU justice chief Didier Reynders told Chew that TikTok could do more to remove hate content on its platform.

Tiktok said it was committed to complying with EU rules in a transparent way. "It's a top priority for us to be ready for this," its vice-president for public policy, Europe, Theo Bertram, said in a tweet.

Our conversations today focused on our commitment to compliance with regulations that will shape Europeans' experience of platforms like ours - and set important new standards in transparency along the way. It's a top priority for us to be ready for this.

— Theo Bertram (@theobertram) January 10, 2023

In its latest attempt to assure the US government and convince it to stay operational under its owner ByteDance, TikTok offered to subject an increased amount of its business to foreign auditing.

A report published by Reuters in late December said that the popular app has been "seeking to assure US government departments and agencies for the last three years" that China's Communist Party (CCP) can't access the "personal data of U.S. citizens" nor influence its content.

TikTok has come under severe attack from within the Democratic and Republican parties, while the US administration is considering a proposal regarding the continuation of the app's operation in the United States.

  • United States
  • China
  • ByteDance
  • TikTok
  • European Commission
  • European Union

Trending Now

All
Intel headquarters

Intel invests in EU, fuels chips race with Asia

Most Read

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at a press conference on 25, February, 2022. (AFP)

Kiev unable to launch counteroffensive: Zelensky

  • Europe
  • 25 Mar
Europe's move has only increased Putin’s esteem outside the West -- but estimation of Europe’s political nous and understanding of Russia, however, is sharply diminished.

Lawfare Comes into Fashion: The New Geo-political ‘Rack’

  • Analysis
  • 25 Mar
President Joe Biden listens as German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Friday, March 3, 2023 (AP).

Hersh: Nord Stream explosion decision possibly 'anger' or 'punishment

  • US & Canada
  • 25 Mar
A woman walks by a money exchange shop decorated with different countries currency banknotes at Central, a business district in Hong Kong, Aug. 6, 2019 (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

New BRICS currency underway: State Duma Deputy Chairman

  • Europe
  • 30 Mar

Read this

All
Syria
MENA

Repeated strikes show coordination between 'Israel', terrorists: Syria

  • 31 Mar
Medvedev
Europe

'NATO peacekeepers' to be targeted if deployed in Ukraine: Medvedev

  • 31 Mar
Romanian Indian
US & Canada

Romanian, Indian families found dead crossing into US from Canada

  • 31 Mar
ds
US & Canada

Lockheed falls behind in GMLRS production to meet new demands

  • 31 Mar
Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS