TikTok plans to open up about how it works to address concerns over privacy and safety

BRUSSELS - TikTok plans to allow European researchers and policymakers to see how its teams moderate content, how its recommendation technology works and how it handles data as it seeks to address concerns over the privacy and safety of its young users.

The social media app said on Tuesday (April 27) that it would open a European Transparency and Accountability Centre, at first virtually and later at a facility in Ireland that is expected to open in 2022.

TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has more than 100 million users in Europe. The Covid-19 pandemic has boosted its popularity among youngsters shut up at home.

"We recognise our responsibility to gain the trust of our community and the broader public," Mr Cormac Keenan, head of trust and safety at TikTok, said in a statement.

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TikTok was targeted in a London child privacy lawsuit last week. The company said the claims lack merit.

In February, European Union consumer groups filed multiple complaints about the company to the authorities in 15 EU countries for allegedly violating the bloc's consumer laws and for failing to protect children from hidden advertising and inappropriate content.

In the United States, some lawmakers have accused TikTok of sharing user data with the Chinese government.

The company has rejected those claims, saying US user data is stored in the United States and China does not have jurisdiction over content not held in China.

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