The US Department of Justice has accused social network TikTok of illegally collecting user information based on their views on sensitive social issues such as gun control, abortion and religion, it was announced today.
In documents filed with a federal appeals court in Washington on Friday, U.S. government lawyers write that TikTok and its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance used an internal platform to exchange sensitive data.
According to federal authorities, TikTok employees spoke directly to ByteDance engineers in China, sending them information about American users.
The information was stored on Chinese servers and accessible to ByteDance employees, they claim.
One of Lark’s research tools, according to documents, allows employees at ByteDance and TikTok — in the US and China — to collect information about users’ content or expressions, including opinions on sensitive topics such as abortion or religion.
The new court documents represent the first major US defense against TikTok, which is used by more than 170 million Americans.
According to a law signed by US President Joe Biden in April, the social network could be banned within a few months if it does not abandon its synergy with ByteDance.
The Justice Department has warned of “secret manipulation of content” by the Chinese government, saying the algorithm could be designed to shape the content users receive.
“By instructing ByteDance or TikTok to secretly manipulate this algorithm, China could, for example, further its existing malign influence operations and amplify its efforts to undermine trust in our democracy and exacerbate social divisions,” the document says.
Federal authorities are asking the court to allow a confidential version of their legal document, which will not be accessible to the two companies.
Nothing in the drafted document “changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side,” TikTok spokesman Alex Haurek said in a statement.
“Banning TikTok would silence the voices of 170 million Americans, violating the 1st Amendment,” Haurek said.
“As we have said before, the government has never presented evidence to support its claims, including when Congress passed this unconstitutional law. Today, once again, the government is taking this unprecedented step, hiding behind classified information. We remain confident that we will prevail in court,” he added.
The Justice Department argued that TikTok has not raised any valid free speech claims, saying the law addresses national security concerns without targeting protected speech, and arguing that China and ByteDance, as foreign entities, are not protected by the First Amendment.
In the redacted version of the court documents, the Justice Department said another tool triggered the suppression of content based on the use of certain words.
Some of the tool’s policies apply to ByteDance users in China, where the company operates a similar app called Douyin that follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules.
The Justice Department, however, said other policies may have applied to TikTok users outside of China.
Arguments in the case are scheduled for September.
Source: www.jornaldenegocios.pt
