class=”sc-3778e872-0 cgWkHT”>
On Friday, the plaintiff added to his lawsuit that he accused Bytedance of being a “useful propaganda tool” for the Chinese Communist Party. In court in San Francisco, the former executive said that shortly after being hired in 2017, Bytedance “stealed” videos posted on rival platforms like Instagram and Snapchat from social media and presented them as their own content.
He briefed his superiors about the problem, but the theft of intellectual property “continued unabated.” In 2018, the manager was fired.
The former employee also accused her former employer of expanding the reach of content that spreads “hate of Japan” and restricting content supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. With its own department at Bytedance in the US, the Chinese government has the “highest access to all company data”, even those stored in the US.
In San Francisco court, the plaintiff sought an injunction to compel Bytedance to cease the practices detailed in the case and pay damages. It will send it “significantly” to human rights groups in the US working for the rights of people of Asian descent.
His lawyer told the French news agency AFP on Saturday that his client is the first senior executive at Bytedance to speak publicly. The US is concerned about the protection of user data, the ethical behavior of the application, and the well-being of Bytedance employees.
At a hearing in the US Congress in Washington in March, Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew assured Beijing that the platform does not have access to data from US users. The White House recently threatened to ban Tiktok in the US if Bytedance doesn’t sell the platform to a US company. Neither Tiktok nor Bytedance commented on the case on Saturday, at AFP’s request.
With more than one billion users worldwide, the Tiktok video platform is especially popular with young people. However, it is controversial. Experts warn that the app could be used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage or propaganda purposes. The Chinese government has refused to urge Chinese companies to hand over user data collected abroad.
(SDA)
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
