TikTok has been fined $600M for violating a European Union Data Privacy Law for sending user data to China.
The Irish Data Protection Commission announced the fine on Friday, May 1, and has given the ByteDance-owned company six months to bring its data processing into compliance with the law.
The $600M fine was given to TikTok after the Irish DPC found the app violated the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, because it couldn’t guarantee that data sent to China would be protected.
$551M of the fine was due to the data transfer, and the rest was for its privacy policy failing to explain why the transfers happened. According to The New York Times, TikTok’s fine is the biggest that’s ever been ordered under the law.
If the short-form video app doesn’t pay the fine and comply with the EU’s data privacy laws, it will be ordered to stop sending data to China.
TikTok responds to $600M fine from EU
Shortly after receiving it, TikTok issued a statement to the NYT regarding the massive EU fine. The company also says it plans to appeal the decision.
It said: “[We have] never received a request for European user data from the Chinese authorities, and have never provided European user data to them.
“This ruling risks setting a precedent with far-reaching consequences for companies and entire industries across Europe that operate on a global scale.”
This comes as TikTok is facing a ban in the United States. According to a law signed by Former President Biden, ByteDance must sell off its shares of the video app to a non-Chinese company before the deadline, or it will not be allowed to operate inside the US.
That deadline was initially January 19, 2025, but President Trump signed an order the next day extending it to April 5. Just a day before that deadline, he extended it again – this time until June 18, 2025.
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