TikTok has officially launched the next stage of its European data separation project, with construction now underway on a new data center in Kouvola, Finland.
As you can see in this image, this week, local officials from Kouvola participated in the ceremonial launch of the new project.
TikTok’s Kouvola data center project, which is being built in partnership local developer Hyperco, will provide more capacity for TikTok to keep EU user data in the region, as opposed to transferring it back to China.
And it’ll also help TikTok better ingratiate itself with European leaders, by contributing to the local economy.
As per TikTok:
“The €1 billion investment will provide a major boost to Kouvola's economy. More than a thousand people are expected to be employed during peak construction, with around 200 permanent jobs once the facility is fully operational.”
That will help TikTok meet its EU regulatory obligations, and hopefully avoid a similar fate to the U.S., where it’s still facing a full ban in the region due to its close links with its Chinese homeland.
The project is part of TikTok’s “Project Clover” initiative, which has already seen TikTok construct data centers in Ireland and Norway to store local user data. In the U.S., TikTok’s “Project Texas” facilitates the same purpose, and TikTok’s hoping that these combined efforts will help it align with local market expectations, and therefore continue operation without further restriction.
Though as noted, things aren’t quite clear on that front in the U.S.
We’ll find out later this month whether U.S. President Donald Trump will grant TikTok a stay of execution once again, by signing off on an executive order to withhold enforcement of the TikTok sell-off bill.
But if a deal can’t be reached, then Europe becomes even more important to the app.
TikTok recently announced that it’s reached a new milestone of 200 million EU users, and if it loses America, that will quickly become its key focus in developing its revenue systems.
As such, this could well be a critical update, and a key step in keeping TikTok in operation.
