Although TikTok has probably just signed its death warrant in the US after its CEO’s recent statements before the US Congress, A new controversy has arisen.
As reported by our colleagues Financial TimesA social networking datacenter in Norway is causing problems in an unexpected area: Supply of weapons to the Ukrainian forces.
To summarize, the Norwegian arms giant Nammo wants to expand its production facility. To accelerate the production of weapons and equipment for Kiev. No wonder, because within a year orders for armaments by the EU increased by 15 times.
A gun factory can’t grow because of TikTok
However, this expansion project is encountering unexpected resistance: a TikTok data center not far from the gun arena. Here is the problem: The social networking data center consumes a large amount of electricity.
And for local energy supplier Elvia, it is not currently possible to power the data center and future extension of the arms range. Elvia, on the other hand, does not intend to reduce the amount of energy supplied to the data center, arguing that she respects the “” principle.first come first served”.
Also read: TikTok – BBC wants to ban app from professional phones
Nammo’s CEO worries about the existence of this data center
For Morten Brandtzaeg, Nammo’s CEO, TikTok wouldn’t have chosen this location by chance. You should read between the lines here, the CEO is referring to espionage suspicions the social network has been accused of for months.
“I do not exclude that it is not purely coincidental that this activity is close to a defense company… I cannot exclude that”, he believes. There is only one solution for the manufacturer: the Norwegian government Prioritize access to energy for key industries like armaments.
“For Europe, this is a major concern: critical industries must have access to energy”, he finishes. As a reminder, TikTok, Netflix and even Candy Crush have been banned from the smartphones of officials in France for cybersecurity reasons. This decision was endorsed by the Minister for Transformation and Civil Service Stanislas Guerini.
