On August 11, the French data privacy regulator, the National Commission for Information and Freedom (CNIL), stated that after receiving related complaints, the agency launched a preliminary investigation into TikTok in May this year. Currently, the investigation is continuing.

A spokesperson for the agency revealed, “In May 2020, CNIL has begun investigating the TikTok app and tiktok.com website. CNIL did receive complaints at that time.”

The French investigation focused on issues such as data privacy: the level of information TikTok provides to users, how TikTok users exercise their rights, data transfers applied outside the EU, and what measures TikTok has taken to protect minors.

The spokesperson said that so far, the French National Information and Freedom Commission is still investigating TikTok and is participating in relevant work in the EU. Their investigation is part of the recently established EU TikTok Task Force. The spokesperson pointed out that the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) may become the (EU) lead agency for TikTok investigations.

Reuters said that when asked about the French investigation, TikTok responded, “Protecting the privacy and safety of TikTok users is our top priority. We are aware of CNIL’s investigation and are fully cooperating with them.”

Recently, the French government has been rumored that it has no plan to ban TikTok. In early August, according to Bloomberg News, French officials publicly stated that they currently do not intend to follow the US in banning TikTok. A representative of the French Minister of Digital Affairs said that the government is currently concerned about online hate speech and the protection of minors on TikTok.

In June of this year, after an EU member of Parliament expressed concern about TikTok’s data collection methods, security and privacy risks and made a request, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) stated that a special task force will be established to deal with TikTok’s activities across the EU. to evaluate. In May, the Dutch data privacy regulator also claimed that it will investigate how TikTok handles the data of millions of young users.

At the same time, the United States continues to “chase” TikTok. US President Trump has signed an executive order requiring TikTok to sell its US business within a 45-day period, otherwise the application will be blocked. Currently, Microsoft is leading TikTok’s acquisition negotiations, and companies such as Twitter, Sequoia Capital, and SoftBank have been reported to have the intention of joining the acquisition negotiations.