The Justice Department is investigating the surveillance of U.S. journalists by TikTok’s Chinese owners, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. The investigation started when he Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd. in December acknowledged that its employees misused their authority to access the data of journalists in an effort to identify leaks of confidential company information ByteDance General Counsel Erich Andersen at the time said the improper access of user data as “a misguided plan” that looked at the IP addresses of the journalists “to determine whether they were in the same location as the employees suspected of leaking confidential information.” He said the reporters worked for Buzzfeed and the Financial Times.
The Justice Department, FBI and federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating, according to WSJ reports
In response to the company’s December findings, TikTok has said it was restructuring its Internal Audit and Risk Control department and removed all user data access and permissions for the department. TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew stated that divesting TikTok from its Chinese owners doesn’t offer any more protection than a multibillion-dollar plan the company has already proposed. That plan involves hiring an American partner, Oracle Corp., to store American users’ data and safeguard against any Chinese influence over what videos Americans view on the app. He is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill next week.
Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer who handles cases in the SEC whistleblower program and False Claims Act cases. He can be reached at 617-823-3217 or Jeff@JeffNewmanLaw.com. His site is www.JeffNewmanLaw.com
