BEIJING: China on Saturday denied it required companies to hand over data after TikTok was hit with a massive fine in the European Union for its handling of personal data.
The social media giant was told to pay 530 million euros ($600 million) on Friday for transferring user data from Europe to China and failing to guarantee it was shielded from access by Chinese authorities.
Friday’s fine was the second-largest ever imposed by the European Union, following an investigation into the lawfulness of data transfers by TikTok.
Chinese-owned TikTok said it would appeal the decision.
China’s foreign ministry on Saturday said the country “has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to collect or store data by illegal means”.
It also called on the European Union and Ireland, home to TikTok’s European headquarters, to “provide a fair, just, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises of all countries”.
TikTok is a division of Chinese tech company ByteDance. But since its European headquarters is in Dublin, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission is the lead regulator in Europe for the platform.
The company has faced scrutiny in many countries over national security concerns that user data could be accessed by the Chinese government and worries the platform could spread misinformation. Several countries have banned the platform for varying periods, including Pakistan, Nepal, and France in the territory of New Caledonia.
Friday’s fine is expected to increase pressure on the social network in the United States.
The US Congress passed a law in 2024 requiring ByteDance to divest control of TikTok in the United States or be banned from the country.
US President Donald Trump has postponed twice the deadline set for the sale of the social network, which has 170 million American users. That latest deadline is set to expire on June 19.
Beijing has consistently denied it accesses data from companies operating overseas and says it abides by local laws.
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