A former TikTok executive talks about the Chinese government’s ‘kill switch’
A former head of engineering for the US operations of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, identified as Yintao Yu, has spoken out about a “kill switch” owned by the Chinese government that allegedly shut down the app. Can do. The former activist has also called the company a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party” and said it stole content from competitors such as Snapchat and Instagram in its early years. For its part, China accuses the United States of xenophobia despite the fact that, if Yintao Yu finally tells the truth, they would not be misled in their suspicions about the Chinese application.
Yintao Yu made these statements after he was fired from the firm from 2017 to 2018, a dismissal he believes to be the result of voicing concerns about a “global scheme” the brand pursued to steal from other rival companies. Is.
The “disruption of death” that the Chinese government will have, according to Yintao Yu
The lawsuit included some claims that generated interest, such as that ByteDance has a special unit made up of members of the Chinese Communist Party that “directs how the company promotes core communist values”, but undoubtedly the most notable one The alleged was about a “death interrupt” that could shut down apps and “ultimate access to all company data, including data stored in the United States.” Although opinions differ on the statements, if Yintao Yu were right, the skepticism the US government expressed months ago about Chinese authorities’ control of TikTok would make sense. Several states across the country have already banned the platform from government tools, and Federal Bureau of Investigation director Christopher Wray said the app “screams from national security concerns.” Despite this, China has always said that it has no control over user information outside the country.
ByteDance responds to Yintao Yu’s allegations
The company that owns TikTok has decided to respond directly to former manager Yintao Yu’s allegations about the control of its applications and the existence of political propaganda intentions behind the platform: “We strongly condemn those statements and allegations without any basis.” We plan to protest against what we believe in.” This complaint, “he said. In addition, the platform reminded that, during the year of Yintao Yu’s work at the company, he was in charge of the Flipagram application, which was shut down years ago for “business reasons”. Not only do they deny any sort of activity mentioned by the former boss, but they also maintain a commitment to “respecting the intellectual property of other companies” and that whatever has been acquired is “industry friendly”. according to the practices”.
