‘Transparency will be crucial’: Several top European officials on Tuesday urged the CEO of Chinese social network TikTok, which has come under fire in the United States, to “fully” comply with EU rules, including on data protection and combating disinformation. for AFP.

Shou Zi Chu met in Brussels with Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager at her request, as well as his colleagues Vera Zhurova, responsible for values ​​and transparency, and Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice.

On the agenda of discussions with Chew: “protection of personal data, safety of minors, transparency regarding paid political content and the spread of Russian disinformation on TikTok,” said Vera Zhurova, asking the company to “make additional efforts (…) to regain the trust of European regulatory authorities” .

“There is no doubt about the security of the data of European users that they are not subject to illegal access by the authorities of third countries,” she added.

In an attempt to reassure, Shaw Zi Chu said that TikTok is working to “strengthen the security of user data in Europe, including by establishing a data center in Ireland for its European operations.”

TikTok, whose parent company ByteDance is in China, has been criticized for being addictive to children and teenagers.

In the United States, it is prohibited by law from being used on government officials’ devices, and elected officials have accused it of being a spying and propaganda tool for China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington.

ByteDance is also under investigation by the Irish Privacy Authority, which suspects the company of breaching the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regarding the processing of children’s personal data and the transfer of data to China.

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