The US Justice Department has accused TikTok of collecting sensitive user data on divisive issues such as abortion and gun control. According to government lawyers, TikTok employees used an internal system called Lark to transfer this data to servers in China, making it accessible to ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
This accusation comes amid ongoing legal battles over a potential US ban on TikTok due to national security concerns. The Justice Department highlighted the risk of “covert content manipulation” by the Chinese government, suggesting that TikTok’s algorithm could be used to influence public opinion and exacerbate social divisions.
TikTok has invested over $2 billion in protecting US user data and argued that the ban would violate the First Amendment. However, the Justice Department maintains that the law addresses security concerns without targeting protected speech
