Blumenthal, Blackburn Concerned About TikTok’s ByteDance Hires
TikTok’s decision to hire executives from Chinese parent company ByteDance raises questions about national security and TikTok’s independence from Beijing, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., wrote in a letter to the company Tuesday. Citing Wall Street Journal…
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reports, they claimed former ByteDance executives have moved to the U.S. to work for TikTok, replacing U.S. executives. “The relationship between ByteDance and TikTok poses a unique risk to the security and privacy of TikTok’s users in the United States,” they wrote. “TikTok executives, including personnel based in China, have been found spying on American journalists, and, in leaked recordings, its staff acknowledged that ‘everything is seen in China,’” they wrote. TikTok said in a statement Tuesday: "In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career. This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok. We welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context the Journal chose to ignore in their initial story."