According to reports from Reuters, TikTok will be setting up its first data center in Ireland. The social media company already has a hub dealing with regional regulatory in the country and now aims to expand its presence there.
TikTok made this move after its parent company, ByteDance, mentioned that it was planning to move the app's headquarters overseas, and a British media reported that the destination for the relocation could be London.
The Chinese company is reported to invest a total of 420 million euro in Ireland, while China has ongoing issues with the West, including disagreements on trade, handling of coronavirus, and the political situation in Hong Kong. Donald Trump and lawmakers in America have also stated that the company is a 'national security risk', followed by Trump's statement about banning TikTok in the U.S if its U.S. operations aren't sold to Microsoft.
TikTok's data center in Ireland will give way to hundreds of jobs as the country is Europe's biggest hubs of data centers and holds operations for some of the biggest tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google. Moreover, TikTok will also be able to enhance its global capability and its long-term commitment to Ireland with this initiative, according to a blog written by global chief information security officer Roland Cloutier.
TikTok also set up its 'trust and safety hub' in Dublin in January and made deals with regulators and governments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa. The company also moved its privacy oversight of European users to Ireland in June and said that its U.K. and Irish entities will take over from its U.S. business to manage and safeguard the European user data.
Martin Shanahan, head of the Irish State Agency welcomed TikTok's decision to establish its data centre in Ireland and said that it will position Ireland as an important location in the company's global operations.
