A former employee of TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, alleges that Chinese national police detained his father and took him to a “remote secret facility” to interrogate and intimidate him after the former employee spoke to Western press about ByteDance’s censorship of content on TikTok. These allegations were made in a federal court filing in the case of another alleged TikTok whistleblower, Roger Yintao Yu. The former employee, who worked at TikTok’s headquarters in Beijing in 2019 and 2020, claimed that one of the main functions of the platform he worked on was to censor content on TikTok. He moved to the United States for graduate school and spoke to the Agence France-Presse in 2022 about ByteDance’s censorship, which was later translated and republished by the BBC.
The former employee, under penalty of perjury, stated that his father was ordered by Chinese national police to keep his mouth shut and to contact the BBC to retract the article about TikTok censorship, which he did under coercion and fear. The Chinese police allegedly continued to harass his family, demanding the deletion of social media posts on Twitter, which he eventually obeyed after his family was threatened. The former employee did not suggest that ByteDance was aware of or complicit in the Chinese police’s alleged intimidation of his father. Forbes was unable to independently verify these claims, and ByteDance denied any involvement in the alleged events.
If true, these allegations suggest a direct Chinese government interest in suppressing public discussion of censorship on TikTok. This revelation comes at a crucial time for TikTok and ByteDance as Congress passed a law requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the United States. The law is based on national security concerns regarding potential Chinese government surveillance through TikTok. TikTok and ByteDance, along with creators, have challenged the law, arguing that it violates their First Amendment rights. The fate of the law rests with a three-judge panel on the DC Circuit, which is expected to rule on the First Amendment questions soon.
Last year, the Department of Justice launched an investigation into ByteDance after reports of using TikTok to spy on journalists. ByteDance faced criticism for monitoring sensitive words on its platforms and making user data accessible in China. The case involving Roger Yintao Yu, another alleged whistleblower, revolves around ByteDance’s promotion of anti-Japanese rhetoric and condemnation of Hong Kong protests on TikTok. The former employee’s declaration was filed in support of Yu’s case, highlighting the dangers faced by those speaking out against TikTok and ByteDance in China.
ByteDance denied any involvement in the alleged events and accused Yu of perjury. The company argued that Yu is a biased witness, but did not directly dispute the former employee’s account. ByteDance’s lawyers referred to the declaration as hearsay criticizing the Chinese government’s detention of political dissidents, but it’s unclear if they were labeling the former employee or his father as a dissident. The case raises questions about the extent of Chinese government influence over TikTok and ByteDance operations. The BBC and Yu’s lawyers did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.
