TikTok Has Tool to Collect Information on Users’ Views on Social Issues, DOJ Says

The Chinese-owned popular video app targets users’ views on hot button issues such as gun control, abortion, and religion, the DOJ says.
TikTok Has Tool to Collect Information on Users’ Views on Social Issues, DOJ Says
The TikTok app is displayed on an iPhone screen in Miami, Fla., on April 24, 2024. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Frank Fang
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TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, have a tool to collect information on users based on their views on topics such as gun control, abortion, and religion, according to the Department of Justice (DOJ).

In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 26, the DOJ said TikTok employees were able to communicate directly with ByteDance engineers in China via an internal web-suite system called “Lark,” which also went by the name “Feishu.”

Frank Fang
Frank Fang
journalist
Frank Fang is a Taiwan-based journalist. He covers U.S., China, and Taiwan news. He holds a master's degree in materials science from Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
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