
TikTok, one of the world’s highest-earning non-game apps, has unveiled plans to create a European transparency and accountability center in Ireland in a renewed effort to ease concerns of policymakers and the broader public over how the Chinese app handles user data.
In a statement published on Tuesday, ByteDance-owned TikTok said that the center will enable outside experts to get an insight into how its technology is used to keep its community safe, how its teams moderate content and how its recommendation technology works.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the center will initially operate virtually from June 2021, and go into full operation at a facility in Ireland next year, according to the statement.
Tuesday’s announcement came a week after TikTok became the target of a legal claim led by the former Children’s Commissioner for England Anne Longfield, accusing the short video app of illegally collecting the private information of millions of European children. TikTok has denied the claim.
TikTok said that it currently has more than 100 million monthly active users in Europe.
In July 2020, TikTok launched a similar center in the U.S., where external experts are privy to a panoramic view of the app’s daily operations including how its employees review content uploaded onto its platform and how it processes the concerns of users and creators.
Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)
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