TikTok admitted to spying on journalists via an internal email. The app itself was used to monitor journalists’ sources, the company’s attempt to discover the leaks. Four employees were laid off, according to ByteDance.
Chinese parent company employees analyzed the IP addresses of journalists using the social media app to find out if they were in the same location as employees suspected of leaking confidential information.. TikTok’s team members were located in both China and the United States.
Journalists spied on included former BuzzFeed reporter Emily Baker-White and Financial Times reporter Cristina Criddle. Chris Lepitak was the head of the TikTok team, which accessed the data of the reporters.the fired chief internal auditor and resigned executive in China Song Ye.
The company admitted to espionage after categorically denying the allegations and saying the app was not used to “target” any “US government member, activist, prominent figure or journalist”. ByteDance now claims that the company is taking additional steps to protect the data of TikTok users.
The case is causing concern in the US, which wants to ban the Chinese app. Joe Biden’s government lawmakers are concerned about the security of US user data. If Congress passes the law, government officials should be banned from downloading and using TikTok on government devices.
Source: Tec Mundo
