China-based social media platform TikTok has been fined €345 million for violating data privacy rules.

The Irish Data Protection Commission announced that it fined TikTok €345 million and reprimanded the social media platform for breaches in the second half of 2020.

The European headquarters of the world's leading big tech companies are largely based in Dublin.

As the Chinese company's legal headquarters in the EU is located in Dublin, the Irish regulator is the EU's data protection authority in cases against TikTok.

The Irish Personal Data Protection Commission announced that TikTok, the popular short video-sharing app, has been fined for failing to protect children's data.The Irish commission's investigation found that the registration process for young users resulted in settings that made their accounts public by default, allowing anyone to view and comment on their videos.

The commission's investigation also warned that these default settings pose a risk to children under the age of 13 who access the platform despite not being authorized to do so.

How did Tik Tok respond to the accusations?

TikTok said in a statement that it will appeal the fine. The company criticized that the commission's criticism focused on features and settings dating back three years, claiming that the necessary changes were made well before the investigation began in September 2021, including making all accounts for young people under 16 private by default and disabling direct messaging for children aged 13-15.