The US Department of Justice is investigating whether ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, has been conducting improper surveillance on US citizens and journalists, as the company deals with significant opposition in its efforts to continue operating the popular video-sharing app in the US.
The probe is being conducted by the department’s criminal division and the FBI, said a person familiar with the development who asked to remain anonymous as they were speaking about an ongoing matter.
Forbes earlier reported that US prosecutors had sent ByteDance a subpoena regarding efforts by its employees to access journalists’ location information or other private user data using TikTok.
Photo: Bloomberg
ByteDance said in a statement: “We have strongly condemned the actions of the individuals found to have been involved, and they are no longer employed at ByteDance.”
“Our internal investigation is still ongoing, and we will cooperate with any official investigations when brought to us,” the firm said.
The revelation comes as the administration of US President Joe Biden told the company to sell its shares of TikTok in the US or risk a ban of the popular app, a major escalation in the long-running standoff over privacy and national security concerns over Chinese control of its data and algorithm.
The demand indicates that the Biden administration has given up on a security review that was intended to blunt potential Chinese influence regarding the app, allowing it to keep operating in the US.
Separately, Sky News reported on Friday that TikTok would be removed from Scottish parliament smartphones and devices amid security concerns.
Members of the Scottish parliament and staff were “strongly” advised to remove TikTok, including from personal devices used to access the legislature’s IT systems, the report said, citing an e-mail.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS