The former head of engineering alleges that the company stole content from other apps.
New accusations against TikTok
TikTok is still struggling to maintain a presence in the United States. However, the new lawsuit could make things even more complicated for the company. Former CEO ByteDance-aalleged that the company used bots and stolen content to boost the app’s success.
The lawsuit, filed by former engineering chief Yintao Yu, alleges wrongful firing by ByteDance Yu-aafter rejecting the company’s practices such as stealing material from other applications. The lawsuit also alleges that ByteDance acted as a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party.” Also, it is stated and that employees in China were able to access US users’ data.
According to reports, Yu-ovi the statements “describe how ByteDance operated five years ago” and come after “several years of mediation.” Still, the allegations are still likely to focus even more attention on TikTok, which is facing a ban across the United States. Lawmakers and other officials say TikTok is a national security threat and that the application cannot be trusted to protect the data of US users.
Yu-ovi the allegations could heighten those concerns. The lawsuit describes a “special unit of Chinese Communist Party members” in the offices ByteDance-a in Beijing. They are said to have “led the company towards the advancement of basic communist values”. Yu also states that the employees of ByteDance-u manipulate them Douyin-omChinese version His TikTok, to suppress content about protests in Hong Kong. In this way, the employees “uploaded content expressing hatred towards Japan”.
Yu left the company in November 2018
Some of You-ovih the claims are also directly related to TikTok. He claims they are engineers ByteDance-a stole popular content from apps like Instagram and Snapchat and uploaded those videos to TikTok. Yu also states that the company used bot accounts to increase app engagement metrics when she was just starting out and trying to gain a foothold in the US. Yu left the company in November 2018 shortly after ByteDance rebranded Musical.ly as TikTok.
Spokesman ByteDance-a said in a statement: “We plan to vigorously oppose what we believe are the baseless claims and allegations in this complaint. Mr. Yu has worked for ByteDance for less than a year. His employment ended in July 2018. During his short time at the company, he worked on an app called Flipagram. The app was later discontinued many years ago for business reasons.” Regarding the allegations of Fr scraping-u, the company states: “ByteDance is committed to respecting the intellectual property of other companies. We collect data in accordance with industry practices and our global policy.”
TikTok has repeatedly tried to downplay its ties to ByteDance-about and China. Executive Director Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress in March. The company also invested more than $1 billion in the Texas project. That project aims to separate US user data from the rest ByteDance-a in an attempt to assuage the concerns of US regulators.
Source: Engadget
Source: PC Press by pcpress.rs.
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