US Department Of Justice Says TikTok Collects Data From Users About Abortion And Weapons

JAKARTA - On Friday, July 21, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) asked the federal court to reject TikTok's request to cancel a law banning it from operating in the US on security grounds.

The DOJ request comes after TikTok petitioned in May to challenge a law requiring its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or to ban the US use of TikTok.

In one of the comparative filing documents found by the Washington Post, DOJ said that ByteDance has access to a search tool that allows its employees to gather information about US users' views on divisive issues such as arms control, abortion, and religion.

The document says that the internal web-suite system called Lark serves to connect employees in China and the United States to send data on US users, including personal identity information.

Responding to the allegations, in a recent post on X, TikTok or ByteDance again said that the allegations made by the US Department of Justice could not be proven.

"As we have said before, the government has never provided any evidence of its claims, including when Congress passed this unconstitutional law," the company wrote.

In addition, banning the use of TikTok in the US will also violate the rights of its users' First Amendment.

The TikTok ban will silence 170 million Americans, and violate the First Amendment. "Currently, once again, the government is taking an unprecedented step while hiding behind classified information," the statement concluded.

Earlier in April, US President Joe Biden signed a law forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok or ban its app in the United States, where the company has 170 million users.