TikTok is stepping up its efforts to keep European user data within the region, announcing plans to invest 1 billion euros to build a second data centre in Finland.
This move comes less than a year after the company revealed its first Finnish facility, showing how quickly it is expanding its infrastructure across Europe.
The new data centre will be located in Lahti in southern Finland and will start with a capacity of 50 megawatts, with the potential to scale up to 128 megawatts over time. The investment is part of TikTok’s broader 12 billion euro initiative aimed at strengthening data protection for more than 200 million users across Europe and ensuring their information is stored closer to home.
The decision follows increasing global scrutiny over data privacy. Earlier this year, TikTok’s parent company ByteDance managed to avoid a potential ban in the United States tied to concerns about how user data is handled. At the same time, European governments are putting more pressure on social media platforms to improve user safety, particularly when it comes to protecting children from addictive content algorithms.
Finland has become an attractive destination for major tech companies building data centres, thanks to its cold climate, affordable and clean energy, and stable regulatory environment within the European Union. Companies like Microsoft and Google have already invested heavily there, and TikTok is now joining that trend.
However, the company’s expansion has not been without controversy. Finnish politicians previously raised concerns when details of TikTok’s first data centre emerged, questioning both transparency and potential security risks. Despite those concerns, the project was approved and is moving forward.
TikTok currently stores European user data across data centres in Norway, Ireland, and the United States, with added security measures in place. Its first Finnish facility in Kouvola is expected to be operational by the end of this year, while the newly announced Lahti centre is scheduled to be completed by 2027.
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Local officials in Lahti have welcomed the investment, seeing it as a major boost for the city’s economy and development.
