Washington — The Justice Division is investigating TikTok’s Chinese language mum or dad firm, ByteDance, for attainable spying on U.S. residents, together with journalists, CBS Information has confirmed.
Information of the probe comes as U.S. lawmakers have ramped up calls for motion towards the extensively well-liked social media app over ByteDance’s ties to China and nationwide safety issues concerning the assortment of consumer information. The Biden administration is mulling a possible nationwide TikTok ban if ByteDance doesn’t divest itself from the app, TikTok confirmed to CBS Information on Wednesday.
Emily Baker-White, a journalist for Forbes who says she was one among reporters who had their TikTok information improperly accessed by ByteDance, was the primary to report the federal investigation. The Justice Division declined to remark Friday.
ByteDance admitted in December that its staff had inappropriately obtained information from American TikTok customers, together with two journalists and quite a lot of individuals related to them, according to the New York Times.
“We have strongly condemned the actions of the individuals found to have been involved, and they are no longer employed at ByteDance,” ByteDance instructed CBS Information in a press release on Friday. “Our internal investigation is still ongoing, and we will cooperate with any official investigations when brought to us.”
The federal authorities has already banned the app from government-issued units and quite a lot of lawmakers have launched laws that might result in a nationwide ban on the platform.
TikTok’s CEO is scheduled to testify to Home lawmakers subsequent Thursday.
Thanks for studying CBS NEWS.
Create your free account or log in
for extra options.
