A former executive who was dismissed from TikTok's parent company claimed that ``TikTok had a backdoor for the Chinese Communist Party to access data''
Intao Yu, a former executive of TikTok's parent company ByteDance, who was fired from the company in 2018, has filed a wrongful dismissal lawsuit in the San Francisco Superior Court. Mr. Yu claims that `` ByteDance was dismissed by his boss when he questioned that ByteDance had given special authority to the Chinese Communist Party members to monitor it, '' and spoke openly about the internal problems of ByteDance.
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In a complaint filed with the court, Mr. Yu said, ``When I advised my boss about the company's illegal activities, I was dismissed from the position of engineering director.''
According to Yu, ByteDance stole copyrighted content from other platforms, including Instagram and Snapchat, and posted it on TikTok, and created bots to inflate app metrics. When Mr. Yu advised the senior staff in charge of the algorithm about these issues, his boss said, 'It's not a big deal,' and he didn't accept his opinion.
Mr. Yu also claims that there was a unit of Chinese Communist Party members called the 'committee' within ByteDance. Yu pointed out that the unit had authority to monitor ByteDance apps such as TikTok and guide them on how to advance core communist values. In addition, it is said that he possessed a 'kill switch' that could instantly terminate the Chinese version of the application.
According to Mr. Yu, the ``committee'' was given special authority from ByteDance and had access to all ByteDance data, including data stored in the United States. TikTok has continued to claim that 'American data is managed in the United States,' but Yu's claim is contrary to this.
ByteDance has called the allegations 'unfounded' and is vigorously contesting them. ``We are committed to respecting the intellectual property of others and obtain data in accordance with industry practices and our global policies,'' a ByteDance spokesperson said.
Owned by ByteDance, TikTok is under intense scrutiny from the United States and European countries because its parent company is based in China. In the United States, bills to restrict or ban TikTok have been submitted in several states, and in March 2023, TikTok's CEO attended a public hearing for the first time and answered questions from lawmakers.
TikTok's Chu CEO testified at an American hearing and responded to data leak suspicions - GIGAZINE
At the hearing, the CEO responded to a question about whether Chinese employees could access U.S. user data. and provoked ridicule from legislators. Although TikTok has been pointed out to be linked to the Chinese government, there is no evidence that the government actually viewed user data, and Facebook and Twitter, which also collect user data, are not subject to regulation. It has also been pointed out that it is a problem of anti-globalism that excludes foreign companies and expands influence while increasing American profits.
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