Executive fired from TikTok's Chinese owner says Beijing had access to app data in termination suit

A former executive fired from TikTok’s parent company ByteDance made a raft of accusations against the tech giant Friday, including that it stole content from competitors like Instagram and Snapchat, and served as a “propaganda tool” for the Chinese government by suppressing or promoting content favorable to the country’s interests.  

The allegations were made in a complaint Friday by Yintao Yu, the head of engineering for ByteDance’s U.S. operations from August 2017 to November 2018, as part of a wrongful termination lawsuit filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court. Yu claims he was fired for disclosing “wrongful conduct” he saw at the company.  

In the complaint, Yu alleges the Chinese government monitored ByteDance's work from within its Beijing headquarters and provided guidance on advancing “core communist values.”  

Yu said government officials had the ability to turn off the Chinese version of ByteDance’s apps, and maintained access to all company data, including information stored in the United States.