The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) accused TikTok of gathering Americans’ data on sensitive content and censored topics. The department said TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, had TikTok gather information about users’ views on social issues — including gun control, abortion and religion.
In a document filed Friday, July 26, the DOJ said an internal web system called Lark — which allows TikTok employees to communicate directly with ByteDance — was used to gather the information. DOJ lawyers said the information was stored on Chinese servers and accessible by ByteDance employees in China.
The Justice Department’s court filings came in response to a federal lawsuit TikTok filed in May. That filing argued a new law that said TikTok must either be sold or banned in the U.S. violates the rights of its millions of American users. Under that law, ByteDance must sell TikTok by mid-January 2025 or it will be completely banned.
The law’s supporters said it is an effort to stop potential spying on Americans and prevent the Chinese government from influencing the content that TikTok shows users. TikTok said it would not do those things if the Chinese government tried to demand it.
