The Biden administration recently tick tock The Justice Department and FBI also appear to be exerting their own pressure over national security concerns stemming from ties to China.
forbes first reported that the agency is actively investigating TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.Investigation reportedly launched after some employees using the app Spying on US-Based Journalists — The Case Corroborated by internal research The end of last year.
now, new york times A Forbes report confirms that the Justice Department’s Criminal Division’s Fraud Division is working with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia to investigate the breach of user privacy.
An internal investigation by ByteDance found that some employees accessed data from an American journalist’s TikTok account to investigate who in the company was leaking information to reporters. Of the employees involved in this incident (who were subsequently dismissed), two were part of the company’s operations in China.
The latest revelations come a week before TikTok’s CEO is scheduled to testify before Congress. faced with deep suspicion, even by technical hearing standards. In the days leading up to the hearings, the Biden administration has considerably hardened its stance on the company. threaten to ban the app In the US if TikTok’s Chinese owner doesn’t sell the company.
TikTok has rejected new demands to sell the White House, arguing that selling the company would not address the government’s concerns. It is difficult to convince the US government that China-based companies operating in the US should be allowed to self-regulate. launched a $1.5 billion initiative known as The initiative will store US user data domestically and subject the company to an audit process conducted by US technology giant Oracle.
