It was confirmed that it was just a rumor. Employees at his ByteDance, the China-based company that owns TikTok, and his Chinese peer, Douyin, have access to TikTok data to financial times reporter and ex buzzfeed To pinpoint the source of the leak to the media, the reporter confirmed in an email seen by ByteDance general counsel Erich Andersen. French media agency (AFP) December 23, 2022.
According to Andersen, staff obtained IP addresses of journalists to determine if they were co-located with ByteDance colleagues suspected of disclosing confidential information.
However, the plan failed. One reason is that IP addresses only revealed approximate location data.
Andersen accused ByteDance of “a misguided initiative that seriously violated the company’s code of conduct”, adding that none of the employees found involved were employed by the company. Guardian A person briefed on the matter reported that four ByteDance employees involved in the incident had been fired.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told employees in a separate email: Reuters Such misconduct is not representative of our company’s principles as I know it. “
He said the company “will continue to enhance these access protocols, which have already been significantly improved and enhanced since this initiative took place.”
financial times “Spying on reporters, interfering with their work, or intimidating sources is completely unacceptable. We will investigate this story more fully before deciding on a formal response.”
buzzfeed news Spokeswoman Lizzie Grams said the company was deeply shaken by the report, calling it a “blatant disregard for the privacy and rights of journalists and TikTok users.”
forbes ByteDance was once buzzfeed “as part of a covert surveillance campaign” to discover the source of the leak.Chief Content Officer Randall Lane forbescalled it “a direct attack on the idea of press freedom and its vital role in a functioning democracy.”
This comes after TikTok has gone to great lengths to convince its customers and governments in major markets such as the United States that users’ data privacy is protected and does not pose a threat to national security. is.
In the United States, the House of Representatives may soon adopt legislation banning the use of TikTok on business phones by government employees. The move follows bans in about 20 US states.
