TikTok has been fined 530 million euros ($600 million) by the European Union for allegedly sending European users' personal data to China and failing to ensure it was protected from Chinese authorities. The fine, issued by Ireland's data protection watchdog, follows an investigation into TikTok's data transfers.

The probe revealed that TikTok, a division of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, had hosted European data in China, contradicting previous statements. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC), which serves as the lead regulator in Europe for TikTok, Google, Meta, and X, stated that TikTok failed to guarantee that European users' personal data accessed remotely by staff in China was adequately protected, meeting EU standards. The DPC also noted TikTok did not address potential access by Chinese authorities to European data under Chinese anti-terrorism, counter-espionage, and other laws.

TikTok plans to appeal the fine, asserting it has never received a request from Chinese authorities for European users' data and has never provided such data. However, the DPC's decision includes an order requiring TikTok to bring its data processing into compliance within six months, as well as suspending TikTok's transfers to China if the deadline is not met. A portion of the fine, 45 million euros, was imposed due to a lack of transparency between 2020 and 2022, during which TikTok did not inform users about data transfers to or access from China.

The fine is expected to intensify pressure on TikTok in the United States, where a law was passed in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest control of TikTok or face a ban. The deadline for the sale, set by President Donald Trump, has been postponed until June 19. In addition to data concerns, TikTok faces accusations of creating user silos through its recommendation algorithm and facilitating the spread of misinformation and illegal content. Several countries, including Pakistan, Nepal, and France (in New Caledonia), have banned the platform for varying periods.

TikTok has emphasized its data protection policies, including the Clover program with a 12 billion euro investment over 10 years. The company claims that European data is stored in Norway, Ireland, and the United States by default and that employees in China lack access to restricted data. However, the DPC stated that TikTok informed them in April that European data had been stored, then deleted, in China, contrary to previous claims. The DPC opened its probe in 2021.