Irish High Court Upholds 530 Million Euro TikTok Fine

The High Court of Ireland upheld a finding that TikTok breached European Union privacy rules by transferring user data to China, affirming a 530 million euro fine imposed by the Data Protection Commission. The regulator previously determined that TikTok failed to prove that data accessed by personnel in China had protections equivalent to EU standards, which could allow the Chinese government to access user information.

While the court upheld the fine, a June 3 ruling ordered the Data Protection Commission to reconsider the corrective measure requiring TikTok to suspend these data transfers. The court found the regulator had not clearly demonstrated how it considered specific submissions from TikTok during the process. This decision effectively pauses the suspension order, allowing the platform to maintain its current data processing practices while the regulator reassesses the sanctions.

TikTok denies providing European user data to the Chinese government and is currently appealing the amount of the fine. A separate judgment regarding that appeal has been shared with the parties involved but remains private.