TikTok admits spying on US journalist as app faces potential ban

TikTok has admitted to using its app to spy on American reporters and track their sources — as the video-sharing platform could be banned in the United States.

TikTok parent company ByteDance tracked down multiple journalists covering the app and accessed their data and location to see if they were in the same area as the employee suspected of leaking sensitive information. Did.

At least four ByteDance employees hacked accounts over the summer financial times Reporter Christina Criddle and Ex buzzfeed Author Emily Baker-White is currently forbesaccording to an internal email.

They tracked Baker-White and Criddle’s body movements to see if they were in the same area as certain ByteDance employees.

In June Baker-White published the following article: buzzfeed There she listened to leaked 80 internal TikTok meetings showing US user data being repeatedly accessed from China.

In October, Baker-White also published articles in: forbesByteDance claims it planned to use TikTok to monitor the location of certain American citizens.

Meanwhile, Criddle has also written several articles on ByteDance. financial times An article claims that dozens of TikTok employees have left their London offices due to toxic working conditions.

“Very disappointed”

ByteDance and TikTok initially vehemently denied the allegations when they were first reported.

The Chinese company claims it “failed to monitor U.S. users in the way the article suggests” and that TikTok “targets” “members of the U.S. government, activists, public figures, or journalists.” He added that it had never been used for

These claims are now accepted to be false.

On Thursday, ByteDance released the results of an internal investigation in which four employees tracked the physical movements of these journalists and used their IP addresses to identify if they were in the same area as a particular location. and obtained unauthorized access to user data. Byte Dance employee.

All four employees were laid off.

Chris Lepitak, ByteDance’s chief internal auditor, who led the team involved in operations, was also fired, and China-based manager Song Ye resigned.

Company officials said they are taking additional steps to protect user data.

Second internal email shared with forbesByteDance CEO Rubo Liang said he was “extremely disappointed” by the situation.

“The public trust that we have worked so hard to build will be severely damaged by the misconduct of a few individuals,” Liang wrote.

“I believe this situation is a lesson for all of us.”

The uncertain future of TikTok

The scandal could not have happened at the worst possible time for TikTok, as the app’s future in the US continues to look uncertain.

Congress is set to pass legislation this week banning federal employees from using TikTok on government-issued devices amid growing national security concerns over the app’s ties to China.

Congress has also introduced a new bipartisan bill aimed at banning TikTok from operating in the country entirely amid espionage concerns, so the disclosure also reflects the scrutiny TikTok faces among lawmakers. may worsen further.

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