TikTok is being investigated by the FBI for spying on journalists

FBI begins an investigation against TikTok

Over the course of the previous few years, TikTok is facing a lot of scrutiny. All of this is because of the data privacy practices of the social media app. Last year, a piece of news indicated that the company has removed the employees that were involved in spying on two journalists. Since then, the controversy against the platform has got even worse. Since the FBI and the Department of Justice have begun to look into this matter. Given the national security concerns, an investigation against TikTok has been initiated.

The incident of spying on the two journalists was initially investigated internally in ByteDance. The report suggested that employees spied on the two American journalists to figure out how the information was leaked to reporters. Although the company indicates that it has fired the employees. Yet it has begun an era of questions, concerns, debate, and investigation against the company’s privacy practices. Since the US government is concerned that the Chinese government is using TikTok to collect information about US citizens.

As of now, no details regarding the investigation are made public. However, Forbes states that the Department of Justice has already served subpoenas to TikTok, and the FBI has begun interviewing people about the situation. In response to the current investigations by the FBI, ByteDance states that they have taken strong action against the employees involved in the activity. We are still processing an internal investigation. The company stated that they will extend their support to any official investigation when brought to them.

Increasing pressure on TikTok

Such an investigation is coming at a point when the company is already facing pressure from US regulators. Since they have asked that ByteDance should sell the US division or be ready for a complete ban in the country. Well, the company has responded to the concerns in the form of Project Texas. Let’s see what happens next.