THE WHAT? TikTok plans to invest €1 billion to build a second data centre in Finland as part of its European data infrastructure expansion.

THE DETAILS The new facility, located in Lahti, will have an initial capacity of 50 megawatts with potential to scale to 128 MW, and is expected to be operational by 2027. This follows TikTok’s first Finnish data centre in Kouvola, due to launch by the end of this year. The investment forms part of the company’s broader €12 billion European data sovereignty initiative, aimed at storing and securing user data within the region. Currently, TikTok stores European data across centres in Norway, Ireland and the U.S. The move comes amid increasing regulatory scrutiny in both the U.S. and Europe over data protection and platform safety, with some Finnish policymakers previously raising concerns over transparency and security implications.

THE WHY? The expansion is intended to strengthen data localisation and compliance with European regulations, while addressing political and regulatory pressure around data privacy and security for TikTok’s growing European user base.

Source: Reuters