TikTok tightens data safety with Irish hub

As part of efforts to strengthen its global data security, the Chinese video-sharing app TikTok has opened its first regional Fusion Centre in Dublin, Ireland, to detect and respond to critical incidents in real time.

The social media platform has taken a number of steps in recent years to address safety concerns in Europe, including the opening of a Trust and Safety Hub in Ireland in January last year. It plans to establish a fully operational Trust and Accountability Hub in Dublin next year.

The latest announcement is seen as a further signal of the company's ongoing investment in Europe, underscoring the strategic importance of Ireland to its global operations.

The company said it has now hired more than 1,100 employees in Ireland alone.

"Our Dublin center will advance our on-platform threat discovery to protect our community, accelerate the delivery of next-generation cyber threat monitoring, and assemble cyber investigations and working groups to tackle digital crime," said Roland Cloutier, TikTok's global chief security officer.

"With this announcement, we're creating dozens of new, highly specialized roles for security, privacy, and policy professionals. These experts will play a critical role in helping TikTok identify, evaluate and eliminate risks to our community."

Central role

Leo Varadkar, Ireland's deputy prime minister and minister for enterprise, trade and employment, said it is crucial that global tech companies play a central role in ensuring the safety of their users.

"I'm really pleased TikTok has chosen Dublin as the location for its first regional Fusion Centre, creating over 50 new jobs," he said.

Varadkar believes the new hub will help improve online safety for TikTok users worldwide. "This announcement underlines the company's continued commitment to our country and will allow it to continue to benefit from our rich and highly skilled talent pool," he added.

Martin Shanahan, chief executive of Industrial Development Agency, said TikTok's rapid expansion in Ireland and the addition of its first regional Fusion Centre have established Ireland as a vital center for its European and global operations.

"The additional high value jobs being created, apart from the benefit to our economy, will build on Ireland's expertise in the field of global trust assurance, security threat management, compliance and governance in an increasingly digitized and vigorous technology sector," he added.

The company announced last September that it has more than 100 million monthly active users across Europe.