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.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly