TikTok Fined €530 Million by EU for Illegal Data Transfers to China

TikTok owner ByteDance Ltd. has been hit with a €530 million ($600 million) fine by the European Union for violating data privacy regulations by illegally transferring user data to China, Bloomberg reports.

The EU has warned the company that it failed to adequately protect user information from potential access by Chinese state services.

The fine was issued by Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), TikTok’s primary regulator in Europe, which determined that the data transfers infringed the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The DPC has given TikTok six months to suspend all illegal data transfers.

The DPC cited TikTok’s admission in April that European user data had been stored on servers in China, contradicting previous statements provided to the regulator.

“TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to EEA personal data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage and other laws identified by TikTok as materially diverging from EU standards,” stated Graham Doyle, a deputy commissioner at the DPC.

TikTok has announced its intention to appeal the decision in full, asserting that it has never received a request for European user data from Chinese authorities and has never provided such data to them.

This penalty is the third-highest imposed under GDPR rules, following previous fines of €1.2 billion against Meta Platforms Inc. and €746 million against Amazon.com Inc.

This is not the first time TikTok has faced scrutiny from the Irish regulator. In September 2023, the company was fined €345 million for alleged deficiencies in safeguarding children’s personal data.

The DPC has consistently voiced concerns about Big Tech firms transferring the personal data of European citizens outside of the bloc.

The Irish investigation into TikTok commenced in 2021, following claims by the regulator’s then-head that EU user data could be accessed by “maintenance and AI engineers in China.”

Beyond privacy concerns, TikTok is also under investigation under the EU’s Digital Services Act, a content moderation rulebook, for allegedly failing to adequately prevent fake accounts and foreign interference in last year’s Romanian presidential election.

The platform is also being scrutinized for its addictive design and its alleged failure to protect minors who use the service.