Chinese-owned TikTok invests €420 million for new European data centre in Ireland

China's short-video sharing platform TikTok on August 6 announced the company's plan to establish a new data centre point for Europe in Ireland amid growing scrutiny over its practices. TikTok's global chief information security officer Roland Cloutier in a blog-post on Thursday wrote that the new data centre in Ireland will create a lot of jobs and will enhance the company's global capability plus it signals its long-term commitment to the European country. TikTok is reportedly investing €420 million in Ireland to build the data centre and it comes as last week media reports suggested that the Chinese-owned firm is planning to relocate its headquarters to London. 

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Meanwhile, the United States President Donald Trump has given an ultimatum to the company saying that his administration will ban TikTok on September 15 if it fails to reach an agreement with Microsoft regarding the sales of its operations in the country. Microsoft has said that it will move quickly to pursue discussions with TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, in a matter of weeks and will reach an agreement before September 15. "These discussions are preliminary and there can be no assurance that a transaction which involves Microsoft will proceed," the US tech giant said. Donald Trump has accused the Chinese-owned app of stealing personal data of American citizens and has dubbed the company a national security risk. 

Read: Australian PM Morrison Says No Evidence To Suggest TikTok Ban Necessary

TikTok ban in India

TikTok along with 51 other Chinese apps was recently banned in India following a violent and fatal military clash between India and China. The government of India cited reasons such as privacy breach and national security while banning the apps. Following India's decision to ban TikTok, talks in the United States reignited with several lawmakers calling for a similar step in the country. Last month, the US Senate Committee approved legislation for a vote that will require the federal employees to delete the app from their official phone. 

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