• D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
  • Dubai
  • Beijing
  • SG
rotating globe
  • D.C.
  • BXL
  • Lagos
Semafor Logo
  • Dubai
  • Beijing
  • SG


Mar 17, 2023, 12:55pm EDT
techNorth America

Feds investigating TikTok’s owner over surveillance of Americans: Report

TikTok app logo is seen in this illustration taken, August 22, 2022.
REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
TweetEmailWhatsapp

Sign up for Semafor Technology: What’s next in the new era of tech. Read it now.

Title icon

The News

The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, over allegations that it spied on American citizens, The New York Times reported Friday.

Citing three people familiar with the investigation, The Times reported that the investigation began late last year. An internal ByteDance investigation in December found that employees had improperly gotten their hands on data belonging to American TikTok users, including two journalists.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration has begun demanding that ByteDance sell the app or face a ban in the U.S., citing privacy concerns with the Chinese-owned app, according to reports.

AD

The Biden administration said last week that it supports a new bill in Congress that would let it ban foreign-owned tech products like TikTok.

Semafor Logo
AD