Every day, more than 1 million Norwegians visit TikTok. It is to be entertained, learn, find unity, build their businesses or, as we see to a greater and greater extent, to seek out information in connection with state or local elections and hear from the politicians who represent them. We are growing, and with growth comes increased pressure and criticism, which we always try to meet in a constructive way. But it is only fair that the criticism is based on facts, and not false assumptions. That’s why we react to news Yting’s chronicle, Log av TikTok. We therefore want to be clear: TikTok has never shared or received a request to share Norwegian user data with the Chinese authorities. TikTok will also not consent to such a request should it come in the future. TikTok’s data is not stored in China; they are stored in the United States, Singapore and Malaysia. Soon all European data will be stored in Europe. We invest 1.2 billion euros annually in three new European data centers, and with that we support local economies and jobs. We are in the process of building one of these data centers in Norway. We have named the project for these new data centers Project Clover, and the purpose of the project is to set a new, higher standard for data security. The provider of TikTok in Norway is TikTok Technology Limited – a company registered in Ireland. The company is subject to EU laws, not Chinese, including the strict data laws regulated by the Irish Data Protection Commission. The authorities do not control the content you find on TikTok. Content moderation in Europe is managed by our Irish Trust and Safety department, and all content is moderated according to our public Community Guidelines. We are aware that higher demands are placed on us as a company. That is precisely why we are working on implementing Project Clover – an industry-leading project that can set a new standard for data security and which will, among other things, strengthen the security around European user data. This naturally also includes Norwegian user data. The European cyber security company NCC Group will be the independent provider of this project. They will audit our data controls and protections, monitor data flows, provide independent verification and report any incidents. They will also carry out security assessments of the security barriers we are building around European data, as well as the TikTok app itself. European user data must be stored in Europe. Our first data center in Ireland is now operational and the migration of data is underway. The data center in Hamar is under construction and will be operated with 100 percent renewable energy. While we await the completion of the data center, we store new, protected data about our European users in the United States, in a secure area called the European Enclave. Several measures are designed to ensure that the data of our European users is subject to additional security measures in a specially designed, protective environment, which can only be accessed by authorized staff subject to strict independent oversight and verification. This protected data will not be available to employees in China. Protected data includes, for example, personal information such as email address, telephone number, IP address and user-generated content set to private. We look forward to contributing to the Inland region in the years to come. We invite open dialogue and welcome criticism, but on a fact-based basis, and we want to be treated on an equal footing with our competitors.
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Judge us based on the facts – Statement
