Per an extensive report from Forbes, ByteDance – which is closely linked to the Chinese Communist Party – used TikTok to covertly monitor the physical locations of journalists, “improperly gaining access to their IP addresses and user data in an attempt to identify whether they had been in the same locales as ByteDance employees.”
Why did this surveillance take place? According to Forbes, it “was designed to unearth the source of leaks inside the company following a drumbeat of stories exposing the company’s ongoing links to China.”
Tracking journalists to protect the CCP. That is spying. But what does TikTok have to say? “I disagree with the characterization that it was ‘spying.’”
"TikTok spied on American journalists. Can you say with 100% certainty that neither ByteDance, nor TikTok employees, can target other Americans with similar surveillance?"
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 23, 2023
TikTok CEO: "I disagree with the characterization that it was 'spying.'" pic.twitter.com/EjWPzuvcec
Only a CCP spyware app would claim spying is not spying. That should concern every American, and shows that the House GOP effort to expose TikTok is truly important. Thankfully, we finally have a House majority dedicated to confronting the CCP.
