TikTok's CEO Shou Chew met with French President Emmanuel Macron, German Ministers and European Union Commissioners to update them on TikTok's substantial work and investment in European data security, minor safety, compliance with regulation and countering hate speech and disinformation.
In Brussels, Berlin and Paris our CEO was able to explain the huge amount of work that TikTok puts into keeping our platform safe, particularly for teens, and complying with the EU's Digital Services Act. He also updated them on developments on Project Clover, our industry-leading initiative to further enhance data security for people using TikTok in Europe.
It was encouraging to hear President Macron, EU Commissioner Thierry Breton and German Digital Minister Dr. Wissing recognise the progress we are making in implementing the DSA. Safety is a top priority for our platform, and TikTok had 1,000 people across the company working to get ready for its introduction and more than 6,000 moderators are focused on European content.
On child safety, our CEO updated the French President on a new safety initiative in France, which encourages users to call the 3018 helpline whenever they report bullying content to TikTok.
In a statement the Elysee Palace, said: "The President welcomed the integration of number 3018 into TikTok and recognized the progress made in the implementation of the DSA and the protection of minors online, which are subjects of great concern for France and for TikTok."
On the trip last week, his second to Europe this year, our CEO also met with EU Commission Vice-President Vera Jourova, Commissioner Didier Reynders, German Federal Minister for Special Affairs and Head of the Chancellery Wolfgang Schmidt and Markus Richter, State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior and Homeland and CIO of the German government.
There was also interest in and encouragement for Project Clover, which will see European users' data stored in Europe by default.
Our CEO explained that the first of the three data centres that TikTok is building in order to store European citizens' data is already up and running in Ireland. He stressed that the €1.2 billion per year project was the latest sign of TikTok's commitment to the safety and security of our 150 million strong European community.