ByteDance, the parent company of popular video app TikTok in China, said on Thursday that several employees this summer illegally accessed the TikTok user data of two US journalists and was no longer authorized to do so. recruitment company.
ByteDance said employees accessed the data to try to identify potential connections between the employee and two journalists, who worked for BuzzFeed and the Financial Times, in the wake of the company leak.
Following an investigation by an outside law firm, one ByteDance employee resigned and three others were fired. The New York Times report. Two of the workers are based in China and the other two are in the US
The company shared the results of the investigation in an email to employees on Thursday.
ByteDance’s disclosure could add to the pressure TikTok is facing in Washington from lawmakers and the Biden administration over security concerns over US user data.
Last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada’s electronic spy agency was also on the lookout for security threats from TikTok.
