Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer called Tuesday for TikTok’s European operations to be placed “in European hands,” mirroring the arrangement in the United States, where ByteDance transferred control of TikTok’s US business to a majority American-owned joint venture to avoid a ban. Speaking before an EU ministerial meeting in Brussels, Weimer cited concerns over mass data collection on European youth. The European Commission distanced itself from his remarks, stating it focuses on regulatory compliance rather than ownership. TikTok currently faces multiple EU investigations, including probes into addictive design and alleged interference in Romania’s 2024 presidential elections.
In-Depth:
Brussels – TikTok’s European business should be “in European hands”, following the example of the United States, Germany’s Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer declared Tuesday.
ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, ceded control of the platform’s US operations to a majority American-owned joint venture, in response to a threatened ban in the United States.
“I am firmly convinced that Europe should follow the American example and that the company’s ownership structure must be put up for discussion,” Weimer notified reporters before meeting his EU counterparts in Brussels.
“That means we should place TikTok’s European business in European hands,” he declared.
“TikTok collects data on Europe’s young people on an unimaginably large scale. This data flows to servers whose origin we do not know precisely,” he added.
Weimer declared Europe did not know what happened to the data, adding that “we are talking here about the most intimate data of Europe’s youth”.
Contacted by AFP, TikTok declined to comment.
TikTok has previously sought to allay EU concerns by storing European applyrs’ information in Europe, with limitations on who can access the data.
The EU executive did not support Weimer’s comments.
Brussels did not see “at the colour of a company, at its ownership, at its countest of origin. What we’re seeing at is compliance” with rules, European Commission spokesman Thomas Regnier notified reporters in Brussels.
The platform is the subject of EU inquiries under the bloc’s digital content rules.
The EU notified TikTok in February that it necessaryed to modify its “addictive design” or risk heavy fines.
The platform is also under investigation in a separate probe opened in late 2024 on alleged foreign interference during the Romanian presidential elections.
