TikTok is finalising plans to add a second data centre in Ireland after announcing its initial centre last year.

The company, which is owned by China's ByteDance, said in an update on Friday that it is in discussions with a third-party provider on plans for a second Irish data centre.

TikTok is also in talks to establish another data centre in mainland Europe "to complement its Irish operations".

The social media giant last year announced a new data governance strategy, which will see European user data stored locally. The company claimed the strategy would "minimise" data outflows from Europe and reduce employee access to user data.

"Regarding local data storage, in line with the growth of our community, we're looking to expand our European data storage capacity," said Rich Waterworth, general manager for European operations at TikTok.

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"We are at an advanced stage of finalising a plan for a second data centre in Ireland with a third party service provider, in addition to the site announced last year.

"We're also in talks to establish a third data centre in Europe to further complement our planned operations in Ireland. European TikTok user data will begin migrating this year, continuing into 2024."

TikTok last June said it would add 1,000 jobs in Ireland, bringing its headcount here to around 3,000, after reaching agreements to lease two sites covering a combined 257,000 sq ft in Dublin.

In January, the company said it would make a small number of layoffs in Ireland as it downsizes its recruitment division. The company employs 5,000 people in 10 European countries -- Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

TikTok has come under scrutiny in Washington amid growing tensions between the US and China, with the US Congress banning the app from government devices in December.

TikTok is set to open its European transparency and accountability centre in Dublin next month, and Waterworth said the firm remains "focused on building trust with [its] community".

The company is set to add staff to help to ensure compliance with the EU's Digital Services Act, and it recently beefed up its code of practice on disinformation.

TikTok is used by 21% of people in Ireland, according to research from Ipsos last January, making it the sixth most-used social network after Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter and Pinterest.

The study also found that TikTok is the fastest-growing social network. The proportion of users with an account rose six percentage points or nearly a third in the 18 months since June 2020. The company claims it has over 150m users in Europe.

Of TikTok's Irish users, 58% of them use it daily, an improvement of 15% from June 2020, and the second-highest figure recorded among the major social media sites after Instagram (63%) but ahead of Facebook (55%).

Photo: Then-Taoiseach Micheal Martin and TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in June 2022. (Pic: Maxwells Dublin)