Up For Sale Social Media Group TikTok Slapped With $600M EU Fine for Sending Personal Data to China

Chinese social media giant TikTok has been fined $600 million by Irish authorities for sending personal data of Europeans to China.

Spying or Propaganda

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission said TikTok had failed to ensure that the data was shielded from access by Chinese authorities. It has been told to bring its processes into compliance with EU Data regulations within six months. If not, it will suspend TikTok’s transfers to China.

The fine adds to long-running fears that the personal data of people using the popular app could be used by the Chinese government for spying or propaganda purposes.

Those concerns led to the US Congress passing a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest control of TikTok in the United States or be banned from the country.

President Donald Trump has twice postponed, until June 19, the deadline set for the sale of the social network, which has 170 million American users.

Blue-chip names such as Amazon (AMZN) and Oracle (ORCL) have been touted as potential bidders.

This is the third largest fine ever imposed by the DPC and is not the first time it has taken action against TikTok. Back in 2023 it fined it around $400 million for breaches of European rules in processing child data.

TikTok Will Appeal

Ireland is at the regulatory forefront of these cases because TikTok has its European HQ there, as do social media rivals Alphabet (GOOGL), Meta Platforms (META), and X.

“TikTok failed to verify, guarantee and demonstrate that the personal data of (European) users, remotely accessed by staff in China, was afforded a level of protection essentially equivalent to that guaranteed within the EU,” said DPC deputy commissioner Graham Doyle. “TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to (Europeans’) personal data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage and other laws.”

TikTok said it planned to appeal the fine, insisting it had “never received a request” from Chinese authorities for European users’ data.

“(TikTok) has never provided European user data to them. This decision has implications not just for TikTok, but for any company in Europe operating globally. We disagree with this decision and intend to appeal it in full, ”TikTok said.

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