TikTok CEO to Discuss Data Protection, Disinformation With EU

Jillian Deutsch, Bloomberg News

Shou Zi Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok Inc., speaks during the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, on Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022. The New Economy Forum is being organized by Bloomberg Media Group, a division of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- The chief executive officer of Bytedance Ltd.-owned TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, will visit Brussels next week to discuss topics including data protection and disinformation with regulators.

Chew will meet with representatives from the European Commission on Monday and Tuesday, including Vice President Vera Jourova, Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders and Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, a spokesperson for TikTok said Friday. Jourova will also meet Twitter’s Head of Global Government Affairs, Nick Pickles, according to her public calendar.

The meetings will be the first since the European Commission and a number of EU countries banned government officials from using TikTok on their work phones.

Discussion topics are expected to include Project Clover, the company’s attempt to have Europeans’ personal data overseen by a third party, as well as the EU’s content moderation rules and disinformation ahead of the European Parliament elections in 2024, according to people familiar with the matter.

The EU representatives will also likely discuss the bloc’s competition rules, after Bytedance was designated a “gatekeeper.”

TikTok’s spokesperson confirmed the discussion topics.