300 TikTok, ByteDance employees worked for Chinese state media: Report

A new report found some overlap between hundreds of employees at TikTok’s parent company ByteDance and Chinese state media outlets. A report prepared by Forbes after reviewing the public employee LinkedIn profiles has revealed that around three hundred current employees at TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, previously worked for Chinese state media publications.

Findings of the Report

According to Forbes, the LinkedIn profiles of ByteDance and TikTok workers showed their current responsibilities. It included positions such as content partnerships, strategy, policy, public relations, monetization, and ‘media collaboration.’ Moreover, 15 current ByteDance workers have stated that they worked for both the IT business and state media outlets at the same time.

“Fifteen indicate that current ByteDance employees are also concurrently employed by Chinese state media entities, including Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International, and China Central/China Global Television,” the report said. The U.S. State Department has labeled these organizations as “foreign government functionaries.” 

TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface

TikTok has come under increased scrutiny as U.S. officials continue to warn of the app’s national security threat. Moreover, FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr called on the CEOs of Google and Apple to remove the app from their stores. He cited reports that suggest the app harvests “swaths of sensitive data.” 

“TikTok is not what it appears to be on the surface. It is not just an app for sharing funning videos or memes. That’s the sheep’s clothing,” Carr wrote. “At its core, TikTok functions as a sophisticated surveillance tool that harvests extensive amounts of personal and sensitive data.”

ByteDance spokesperson Jennifer Banks told Forbes that hiring is decided “purely on an individual’s professional capability to do the job.” 

“For our China-market businesses, that includes people who have previously worked in government or state media positions in China,” she said. “Outside China, employees also bring experience in government, public policy, and media organizations from dozens of markets.”

She said that ByteDance “does not allow employees to hold second or part-time jobs or any outside business activity” in response to the 15 profiles of concurrent ByteDance-Chinese state media employees, saying that it would “cause a conflict of interest.” 

Strong ties between TikTok’s parent business and the Chinese government’s propaganda arm

Forbes found “strong ties between TikTok’s parent business, ByteDance, and the Chinese government’s propaganda arm, which has been extensively utilizing social media to propagate disinformation that supports the Chinese Communist Party.”

ByteDance spokeswoman said that the business makes “hiring choices based solely on an individual’s professional capacity to accomplish the job.”

Forbes discovered 49 LinkedIn accounts for former CCTV and CGTN workers at TikTok and ByteDance. Moreover, leaked internal documents from TikTok also show that the company actively pushed employees to “downplay the China association” in order to help deal with the growing attention and criticism.

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