ByteDance Accused of Using Bots to Inflate TikTok Engagement

TikTok is facing new scrutiny after a former executive alleged that the company used bots and stolen content to inflate its engagement.

The lawsuit, filed by former head of engineering Yintao Yu, claims that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, wrongly fired Yu after he pushed back on company practices like stealing other apps’ material. It also claims that ByteDance acted as a “useful propaganda tool for the Chinese Communist Party,” and that China-based employees could access US users’ data.