Key Points:
- TikTok to build a second 1 billion euro data center in Finland.
- The investment is part of TikTok’s European data sovereignty initiative.
- Finland’s cold climate and green energy attract data centers.
- Finnish politicians raised security concerns about TikTok’s first center.
TikTok plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) to construct a second data center in Finland, less than a year after announcing its first. This move is part of the company’s strategy to store European user data on the continent, as confirmed by company officials on Wednesday. This announcement comes after TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, avoided a U.S. ban in January over data protection worries. It also coincides with increasing pressure from European nations on social media companies to safeguard children from addictive algorithms.
TikTok stated it is making a new 1 billion euro investment in a data center with an initial capacity of 50 megawatts (MW) and a potential total capacity of 128 MW. This new facility will be located in Lahti, southern Finland. The company told Reuters that this investment is part of its “12 billion (euro) European data sovereignty initiative delivering industry-leading protections for the data of over 200 million European users.”
Finland has become an attractive location for data centers. Companies like Microsoft and Google are looking to reduce energy costs and meet climate goals, drawn by Finland’s cold climate, affordable and low-carbon electricity, and a stable, business-friendly regulatory environment within the European Union.
However, Finnish politicians expressed concern when Reuters revealed TikTok’s plan for its first data center in Finland last April. While Finland’s defense ministry had approved the investment in 2024, politicians had not been informed. Finland’s then-minister of economic affairs, Wille Rydman, last year called for the project to be “reconsidered” due to security concerns and a lack of transparency regarding the company’s plans. Rydman told Finland’s public broadcaster Yle, referring to TikTok’s local partner, “At the very least, I would hope that this property development company would reconsider once more whether it really wants TikTok as its tenant.”
TikTok confirmed that its European user data is currently stored with improved safeguards across three data centers located in Norway, Ireland, and the U.S. Its first Finnish data center in Kouvola is expected to be operational by the end of this year, with the second one in Lahti set to be ready by 2027. Lahti’s mayor, Niko Kyynarainen, welcomed the new investment, stating, “In the context of Lahti, the investment is substantial. We are pleased that a main tenant agreement has been signed and that the project is progressing as planned.”
