Related to the surveillance issue, TikTok admitted it improperly accessed data from US users, including journalists from Forbes and the Financial Times, as part of efforts to find whistleblowers. TikTok and ByteDance said they fired everyone involved in the operation.
As I previously reported, this initiative was led by TikTok’s highly aggressive internal security team, which drew criticism from many TikTok employees. Sources I spoke with indicated that the team is largely made up of former US and European law enforcement officials.
