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Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals sounded unconvinced Monday that the TikTok “sale or ban” law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was unconstitutional. TikTok and ByteDance have since condemned the practice and said that three employees involved were terminated, with an additional employee resigning. Pincus also said that the data TikTok collects from American users is anonymized and is comparable to other Chinese companies, like major e-commerce platforms. TikTok creators and users in the U.S. have responded overwhelmingly negatively to the proposed ban. Trump then expressed support for TikTok following Biden’s passage of the national security package that included the provision to ban TikTok.

Persons: Joe Biden, TikTok, ”, Andrew Pincus, “, it’s, Pincus, Pincus didn’t, Judge Neomi Rao, ” Rao, Biden, Kamala Harris, Kamala, Donald Trump’s, TAYLOR SWIFT, ” Trump, Trump Organizations: Circuit U.S, Chinese Communist Party, Oracle, Forbes, Palestine Information Office, ByteDance, Justice Department, “ Biden Locations: U.S, Texas, Oracle’s U.S, China, Palestine, Tibet

☆ TikTok says it's not spreading Chinese propaganda. The U.S. says there's a real risk. What's the truth?
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Dilanianmug.Jpg | Ken Dilanian | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +11 min

Is TikTok trying to secretly influence Americans at the behest of the Chinese government? And an analysis of the ownership structure of TikTok parent company ByteDance, obtained by NBC News, argues that the company is deeply entangled with some of China’s major government propaganda organs. The most recent one, published last month, found that TikTok suppresses anti-China content compared to YouTube and other social media platforms. In recent years, according to media reports, Chinese government entities have increasingly taken golden shares in technology companies. “This report establishes that TikTok algorithms actively suppress content critical of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) while simultaneously boosting pro-China propaganda and promoting distracting, irrelevant content,” the researchers wrote.

Persons: —, TikTok’s, China —, ’, TikTok, ” Democratic Sen, Mark Warner, — Casey Blackburn, National Intelligence —, ”, ByteDance, Blackburn, Strider, ” Strider, Wu Shugang, “ Organizations: Congress, D.C, Justice Department, NBC News, Network, Research, Rutgers University, YouTube, Department, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia, Supreme, Strider Technologies, Communist Party of China, ” Democratic, U.S, of Economic Security, Emerging Technology, National Intelligence, TikTok, Chinese Communist Party, CCP, Net Investment, Technology, Communist Party, China Central Radio, Television Station, Beijing State, Administration, Investment, China’s Ministry of Education Locations: United States, Washington, U.S, China, Tibet, TikTok, People’s Republic of China, Tiananmen, Hong Kong, ”, Xinjiang, Beijing

☆ TikTok has 15 minutes to fight for its life
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

The law Biden signed seeks to ban TikTok on Americans’ personal devices unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, quickly sells TikTok to someone else — which may effectively end the app as we currently know it. TikTok will not get the luxury of a full trial to argue for its continued existence in its current form. But it won’t be alone: A group of TikTok creators also suing the Biden administration will go next, with 10 minutes to speak. Court filings show that TikTok and US national security officials had hammered out a draft proposal to address the security concerns. The question is whether all that amounts to enough influence over ByteDance and TikTok to gain access to US TikTok users’ data, in spite of the guardrails promised by Project Texas.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, TikTok, Sri Srinivasan, Judge Neomi Rao, Donald Trump, Douglas Ginsburg, Reagan, ’ TikTok, “, ”, Chris Inglis Organizations: CNN, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, Oracle, Justice Department, Independent, Project Texas, Federal Communications Commission Locations: China, United States, ByteDance, U.S, Beijing

☆ TikTok is fighting for its life in US court — and it's on track to lose, former DOJ official says
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-16 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Attorneys for the US government and the widely popular social media app faced off on Monday in a federal appeals court as TikTok fights against a law that could soon see the platform banned in the country. Rozenshtein said that he believes the appeals court will rule "decisively" and "comprehensively" against TikTok. AdvertisementTikTok's lawyer argued the law 'imposes extraordinary speech prohibition'In his oral arguments on Monday, TikTok lawyer Andrew Pincus slammed the law as "unprecedented." AdvertisementThe panel of judges, at times, seemed skeptical of TikTok's arguments. After the appeals court issues its ruling, the case could end up before the Supreme Court where Rozenshtein also predicts TikTok will not fare well.

Persons: —, Alan Rozenshtein, Rozenshtein, Joe Biden, TikTok's, Biden, haven't, TikTok, Andrew Pincus, Pincus, Daniel Tenny, Sarah Kreps, Kreps, Jaffer Organizations: Service, Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, TikTok, Business, Justice Department, University of Minnesota Law School, Chinese Communist Party, Justice, Tech, Institute, New York's Cornell University, Columbia University —, Pew Research Center Locations: TikTok's Beijing, ByteDance, China, United States

☆ Alibaba’s Taobao shopping app launches AI-powered English version in Singapore, jumps to first place in Apple’s App Store
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Sonia Heng | In Sonia-Heng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In this article BABA Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTThe logo of Alibaba's e-commerce app Taobao is displayed next to mobile phones displaying the app, in this illustration picture taken October 25, 2023. Reuters | Florence LoSingapore — Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba 's Taobao shopping app topped the Apple App Store charts in Singapore after releasing an English version on Tuesday — thanks to translations powered by artificial intelligence. That's according to Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm whose data shows Taobao shot to first place in Apple's Singapore App Store across all categories, as of Sept. 11. As early as last year, Singaporean Taobao users had previously made guides on how to purchase clothes, furniture and lifestyle items from Taobao. These video guides were posted on the ByteDance-owned TikTok platform, another Chinese app.

Persons: Florence Lo, Alibaba, Bain, David Zehner Organizations: Reuters, Company, Asia, South Korean, Bain, CNBC Locations: Florence, Florence Lo Singapore, Singapore, Apple's Singapore, China, AliExpress, Malaysia, Asia Pacific, Singapore's

☆ OpenAI is showing that the AI race is survival of the richest
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's also a sign of just how expensive the business of training and running AI models is getting. AdvertisementGenerative AI is a cash-guzzlerStartups like OpenAI need to raise huge amounts of capital to build smarter AI models. Just look at the spending of Big Tech firms working to improve their AI models. Consolidation has struck the AI industry in recent months, as some top startups trying to build AI models have been gutted. AI startups serious about progressing on LLMs will need to figure out the answer to this pretty quickly.

Persons: —, Elon, Sam Altman, ChatGPT, It's, Justin Sullivan, OpenAI, Dario Amodei, Anthropic, Pretty, Amodei's Anthropic, Dario Amodei's Anthropic, Noam Shazeer —, Ben Bergman, Sri Muppidi, it's, Elad Gil, Gil Organizations: Service, Bloomberg, Business, SpaceX, Getty, Microsoft, Big Tech, Street, Nvidia, Apple, Amazon, Samsung, Google Locations: OpenAI, aren't

☆ China wants to challenge the U.S. in AI — here's what Chinese giants are doing with the tech
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Generative AI includes applications like OpenAI's ChatGPT, which has the ability to generate text, images and even video based on user prompts. These applications are powered by large AI models which are trained on huge amounts of data, such as Google's Gemini. Chinese technology firms have had to tread carefully in releasing their technology as Beijing has strict requirements for AI models and their uses. CNBC runs through the big Chinese AI models developed by the country's biggest tech firms. It has created a number of AI models aimed at customers in specific industries including government, finance, manufacturing, mining, and meteorology.

Persons: catchup, ERNIE Baidu, Ernie Bot, OpenAI's, Baidu, Ernie, Alibaba, Qianwen, Tencent, Hunyuan, Doubao Organizations: Istock, Getty, U.S, CNBC, Baidu, Huawei, Pangu Huawei Locations: China, Alibaba, U.S . China, Beijing

☆ TikTok could be banned from the US in months. TikTok doesn't seem worried.
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Peter Kafka | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

TikTok faces a January 19, 2025, deadline to find a new US owner or shut down. Despite the looming deadline, TikTok employees and ad buyers act as if nothing will change. Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . But inside the company, The Information reports, most US TikTok employees are behaving as if nothing is going to happen at all.

Persons: — Organizations: Service, Business

☆ JPMorgan downgrades its opinion on China, but still likes these individual stocks
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-08 | by ( Evelyn Cheng | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Instead, JPMorgan increased its overweight recommendations on other emerging markets. Even after the change, JPMorgan still holds 18 China stocks in its global emerging markets model portfolio. The JPMorgan analysts said uncertainties about the China economic outlook range from tensions with the U.S. to "lingering deflation pressure." During three periods of escalating U.S.-China trade tensions in 2018 and 2019, the MSCI China index fell each time, according to JPMorgan China Equity Strategist Wendy Liu. As part of its China stock downgrade, JPMorgan added shares of state-owned utility operator CR Gas , while removing shares of PDD, China Construction Bank and Kingdee International.

Persons: Pedro Martins, Chetan Seth, Jake Sullivan, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden's, Harris, Donald Trump, Wendy Liu, ByteDance, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, Wednesday, Sunday, Reuters, Nomura's, Nomura, JPMorgan China Equity, CR Gas, China Construction Bank, Kingdee International, Kuaishou Technology, Meituan, Hong Locations: China, U.S, Nomura's Asia, Japan, Beijing, PDD, Hong Kong, Thursday's

☆ Americans don't want to ban TikTok anymore
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-05 | by ( Dan Whateley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Fewer Americans want to ban TikTok than did a year ago, according to a new survey from the Pew Research Center. While half of US adults supported a TikTok ban in March 2023, now just one in three (32%) say they want a government ban. The decline in support for a TikTok ban is occurring across party lines. Former President Trump once sought to ban or force a sale of TikTok, but recently flip-flopped on the issue. Vice President Harris hasn't shared a position on the TikTok ban.

Persons: TikTok, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, ByteDance, hasn't, G.S, Hans, Pew, Trump, Harris hasn't Organizations: Service, Pew Research Center, Pew, Business, Apple, Google, Chinese Communist Party, Cornell Law School Locations: TikTok, Beijing

☆ Why Broadcom stock is tumbling after an earnings beat — and how to play the dip
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-05 | by ( Jeff Marks | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

Broadcom reported an earnings beat Thursday, driven by strong sales of its AI products and VMware software. We view Broadcom as one of the biggest AI beneficiaries through its networking and custom chip businesses. However, Broadcom generated $5.3 billion in free cash flow when excluding restructuring and integration cash costs in the quarter. The semi number is a slight miss versus expectations, and the difference is probably due to the non-AI business lines because AI sales are humming. Broadcom raised its full-year AI revenue forecast to $12 billion, up from prior guidance of over $11 billion.

Persons: Hock Tan, Tan, …, Tan didn't, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Justin Sullivan Organizations: Broadcom, VMware, LSEG, VMWare, Wall Street, Marvell Technology, Devices, Nvidia, Revenue, Apple, Management, CNBC Locations: Hock, American, San Jose , California

The agency also said that it was under the initiative of Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli, who issued a directive saying that all social networking sites should be treated equally. Oli became the prime minister last month after the collapse of the previous coalition government. The previous government had imposed the ban on TikTok in November last year, saying it was necessary to regulate the use of the social media platform because it was disrupting social harmony and goodwill and diffusing indecent materials. The government has also asked social media platforms companies to register in Nepal, open a liaison office, pay taxes and abide by the country’s laws and regulations. There were several exchanges of communication between the government and TikTok officials in the months leading to the lifting of the ban.

Persons: Prithvi Subba Gurung, Khadga Prasad Oli, Oli, China’s ByteDance, TikTok Organizations: National, Agency Locations: KATHMANDU, Nepal, Beijing, United States, Britain, New Zealand

☆ China's Huawei is reportedly set to release new AI chip to challenge Nvidia amid U.S. sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Sheila Chiang | In Sheilachiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Chinese technology giant Huawei is set to challenge Nvidia with a new artificial intelligence chip amid U.S. sanctions that had sought to curb the Chinese tech giant's technological progress, according to a Wall Street Journal report. U.S. regulators in 2022 had slapped restrictions on Nvidia to stop the firm from selling AI chips, including the H100, in China, citing national security concerns. Huawei has been at the center of U.S. sanctions aimed at securing U.S. networks and supply chains. Huawei was then placed on a U.S. trade blacklist in 2019, which banned U.S. firms from selling technology — including 5G chips — to the Chinese tech giant. In 2020, the U.S. tightened chip restrictions on Huawei, requiring foreign manufacturers using American chipmaking equipment to obtain a license to sell semiconductors to Huawei.

Organizations: Huawei, IFA, Nvidia, Wall, Nvidia's, Baidu, China Mobile, Apple, U.S, Intel, Qualcomm Locations: BERLIN, GERMANY, U.S, China

☆ Middle East wealth funds are scrambling to rescue their big bets on the future
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Go to newsletter preferencesSign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. A particular focus for these funds built on the back of petrodollars has been to build ownership and influence in the tech sector. FETHI BELAIDOver the past week, PIF and Mubadala have been busy figuring out what to do when their unbridled ambitions for tech companies face reality. Reports from the Financial Times and Bloomberg have shone a light on efforts being made by the sovereign wealth fund to boost returns in European startups in which it has invested billions of dollars. AdvertisementSeveral of these nascent tech companies, such as the insurance firm WeFox, have been bruised by shifting sentiment in the markets in recent years.

Persons: —, Abu Dhabi's Mubadala, SoftBank's, ByteDance, Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Peter Rawlinson, Lucid, John Keeble, Rawlinson, PIF, it's, Mubadala Organizations: Service, Saudi, Public Investment Fund, Business, PIF, Financial Times, Bloomberg Locations: Middle, petrodollars, Saudi, California

☆ SoftBank swings back to gains at Vision Fund tech arm, announces up to $3.4 billion share buyback
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-07 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SoftBank Group booked a 1.9 billion yen ($12.9 million) investment gain on its Vision Fund tech investment arm in the company's fiscal first quarter ended in June, swinging back into the black. However, the Vision Fund segment as a whole posted a 204.3 billion yen loss, after being in profit in the same quarter last year. The Japanese giant also announced it would buy back up to 6.8% of shares available in the company amounting to up to 500 billion yen ($3.4 billion). In the year ago quarter, SoftBank posted 159.77 billion yen gain in its Vision Fund. In the March quarter, SoftBank posted a loss of 57.53 billion yen in its flagship tech investment arm.

Persons: ByteDance —, SoftBank Organizations: SoftBank, Corp, Vision Fund, Vision, Bank of Japan Locations: Tokyo, Japan

“TikTok knowingly and repeatedly violated kids’ privacy, threatening the safety of millions of children across the country,” FTC Chair Lina Khan said in a release. In 2019, the government sued Musical.ly, the company that later became TikTok, for alleged COPPA violations. There are 170 million American TikTok users. In 2020, Trump signed an executive order that would ban TikTok, which was struck down in court. In March, Trump said he no longer intended to ban TikTok if re-elected.

Persons: ByteDance, TikTok, “ TikTok, Lina Khan, Musical.ly, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Trump Organizations: U.S . Justice Department, Federal Trade Commission, TikTok, CNBC, FTC, COPPA, Central, Central District of, U.S Locations: U.S, Central District, Central District of California, American

☆ US government sues TikTok for allegedly violating children’s privacy law
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Clare Duffy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The lawsuit accuses TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by allowing children to create accounts without their parents’ knowledge or consent. TikTok also collects and retains personal data from children, such as email addresses, phone numbers and location data, and fails to to comply with requests from parents to delete their children’s information, the suit alleges. The Justice Department claims that TikTok has continued to violate the law, as well as that 2019 court order. TikTok has also faced previous allegations that it failed to keep young users safe , and was fined in Europe for violating children’s privacy protections. The FTC began investigating potential violations of COPPA by TikTok earlier this year, sources told CNN at the time.

Persons: New York CNN — TikTok, TikTok, “ TikTok, Lina Khan, ”, Michael Hughes, “, TikTok “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Justice Department, US Federal Trade Commission, COPPA, The Justice Department, FTC, TikTok, CNN, Department, Federal Trade Commission Locations: New York, TikTok, California, United States, Europe

☆ U.S. Sues TikTok Over Child Privacy Violations
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department sued TikTok on Friday, accusing it of illegally collecting children’s data and escalating a long-running battle between the U.S. government and the Chinese-owned app. TikTok broke the law by gathering personal information from users under the age of 13 without their parents’ permission, according to the government’s complaint. The company knowingly allowed children under the age of 13 to create and use TikTok accounts, the government said, and frequently failed to honor parents’ requests to delete their children’s accounts. The lawsuit, which was filed in a federal court in Southern California, said those practices violated both the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a law that restricts the online tracking of children, and a 2019 agreement between TikTok and the government in which the company pledged to notify parents before collecting children’s data and remove videos from users under 13 years old. The suit, which also names TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, asks for the court to fine the companies over the violations.

Persons: TikTok Organizations: Justice Department, U.S Locations: Southern California, TikTok

☆ TikTok's parent company just had a crazy case of food poisoning in Singapore that left their whole office smelling like vomit
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-01 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Read previewTikTok parent company ByteDance's headquarters in Singapore were left smelling like vomit after a mass food poisoning incident on Tuesday. ByteDance had hired two food caterers — Yun Hai Yao and Pu Tien Services — to run each of the buffet lines. The Singapore Food Agency suspended one of Yun Hai Yao's branches and Pu Tien's catering kitchen on Wednesday. AdvertisementOver 100 individuals hit with food poisoningThe food left 130 individuals with gastroenteritis symptoms, the Singapore Food Agency and the country's health ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. Representatives for ByteDance, Pu Tien, and Yun Hai Yao didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.

Persons: —, Andre, ByteDance, Yun Hai Yao, Pu, Yun, Pu Tien, Yun Hai Yao didn't Organizations: Service, CNA, Business, Pu Tien Services, Singapore Food Agency, Singapore Civil Defence Force, Singaporean, The Straits Times, Bloomberg, Straits Times, Representatives Locations: Singapore

☆ Meta shows aggressive spending on AI is already paying off in big earnings beat
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

While there are still concerns about the company's aggressive AI spending, we believe these investments will pay off in the long run. Both trends were cited as the main drivers behind Meta's revenue outperformance in the quarter. Zuckerberg added that AI is opening the door to new experiences and opportunities, especially with Meta AI, which is powered by the company's large language model that is often referred to as Llama. Zuckerberg said he believes Meta AI will be the most used AI assistant in the world by year end. Management now sees capex in the range of $37 billion to $40 billion, up from its prior range of $35 billion to $40 billion.

Persons: China's ByteDance, — Zuckerberg, Zuckerberg, we'll, Ray, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Mark Zuckerberg Organizations: Revenue, LSEG, China's, Meta, Investment, Facebook, Realty Labs, VR, Management, CNBC, Press, AFP, Getty Locations: United States, U.S, Tokyo

☆ TikTok-owner ByteDance's Singapore workers suffer mass food poisoning
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

TikTok-owner ByteDance's office in Singapore was hit by mass food poisoning on Tuesday, affecting 60 people, according to local authorities. In a joint statement sent to CNBC, the Singapore Food Agency and Ministry of Health said they were investigating suspected gastroenteritis cases at the China-based tech giant's office. According to TikTok's website, Singapore is one of its headquarters and ByteDance CEO Shou Zi Chew is a third-generation Singaporean citizen. The U.S. government passed a bill in April that seeks to force the app's Chinese owner to sell it or face a ban. TikTok is now suing the U.S. government to stop enforcement of the bill arguing that it violates the law.

Persons: ByteDance, Shou Zi Chew Organizations: CNBC, Singapore Food Agency, Ministry of Health, The Straits Times, Singapore Civil Defence Force, CNA Locations: U.S, Singapore, China, The U.S

☆ Temu and Shein's soaring popularity has Wall Street eyeing China's influence on tech earnings
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( Annie Palmer | In Annierpalmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

The topic of Temu and Shein's growth will hover over tech earnings this week, as Amazon reports second-quarter results alongside Meta, eBay and Etsy. watch nowIn Amazon's report on Thursday, the company is expected to show revenue growth of about 11% to $148.6 billion, according to LSEG. That's where Temu and Shein come into play, as merchants now have new ways to get products to American consumers. Amazon has continued to highlight its delivery prowess and its focus on speed in the face of growing competition from Temu and Shein. However, while it's long touted itself as the "lowest-priced U.S. retailer," Amazon has shown that it's well aware of Temu and Shein's increasing popularity.

Persons: Stefani Reynolds, David Zapolsky, Zapolsky, it's, Shein, Andy Jassy, Jassy, It's, Angus Mordant, Temu, Meta, Susan Li, Jamie Iannone, Etsy, Amazon, Amazon's Zapolsky Organizations: Apple, CNBC, Afp, Getty, eBay, Meta, Etsy, Tech, YouTube, Microsoft, Intel, Qualcomm, Google, PDD Holdings, Amazon, European Union, Bloomberg, Barclays, Finance, EBay, Bank of America, Walmart Locations: U.S, China, Temu, New York, Asia, Pacific, San Francisco, Singapore

☆ Justice Dept. Defends TikTok Law That Forces App’s Sale or Ban
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( David Mccabe | Sapna Maheshwari | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Justice Department argued in a court filing on Friday that TikTok should be required to sell its American operations to resolve national security concerns about its Chinese parent company, ByteDance. In the government’s first detailed response to TikTok’s lawsuit challenging a new U.S. law that could ban the social media app, the Justice Department said measures that TikTok previously offered to address those security concerns — including walling off U.S. user data domestically — were insufficient. The Chinese government could still collect sensitive data on Americans or spread propaganda, the agency argued, and it has incentive to misuse the app because of larger geopolitical goals. And while TikTok argued in its suit that the law violated the First Amendment rights of its 170 million U.S. users, the Justice Department contended that those users were free to turn to other social media sites if TikTok was banned or sold. Under the law, any challenges must begin in that court.

Persons: walling, TikTok Organizations: Justice Department, Department, U.S ., Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit Locations: United States, China

☆ Justice Department responds to TikTok lawsuit, argues algorithm could allow Chinese government to influence US elections
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | Evan Perez | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Allowing TikTok to continue to be operated by its current parent company could allow the Chinese government to covertly influence US elections, the Justice Department said in a court filing late Friday. The filing is in response to a federal lawsuit TikTok brought against the US government in May in an attempt to block a law that could force a nationwide ban of the app. In their lawsuit, TikTok and Bytedance say that US law is unconstitutional because it runs afoul of free speech rights and prevents Americans from accessing lawful information. “TikTok application collects vast swaths of sensitive data from its 170 million U.S. users,” the DOJ filing reads. The Friday filing makes clear that law enforcement officials believe TikTok could – and has in some instances – taken direction from the Chinese government.

Persons: ”, TikTok, Joe Biden, Lisa Monaco, ” Monaco Organizations: CNN, Justice Department, The Justice Department, DOJ, Prosecutors Locations: United States, China, American, People’s Republic of China

☆ Justice Department claims TikTok collected U.S. user views on issues like abortion and gun control
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-27 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

In a fresh broadside against one of the world's most popular technology companies, the Justice Department is accusing TikTok of harnessing the capability to gather bulk information on users based on views on divisive social issues like gun control, abortion and religion. The Justice Department warned, in stark terms, of the potential for what it called "covert content manipulation" by the Chinese government, saying the algorithm could be designed to shape content that users receive. In the redacted version of the court documents, the Justice Department said another tool triggered the suppression of content based on the use of certain words. Certain policies of the tool applied to ByteDance users in China, where the company operates a similar app called Douyin that follows Beijing's strict censorship rules. But Justice Department officials said other policies may have been applied to TikTok users outside of China.

Persons: ByteDance, TikTok, Joe Biden, Alex Haurek, Haurek, we've Organizations: Justice, Wall Street, Department, Justice Department, U.S Locations: Washington, Beijing, China, U.S, Texas, Israel, Gaza

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