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TikTok parent company denies allegations it was allowing Chinese authorities access to user data

A CHINESE tech company denied allegations today that it was allowing the government to access the data of Hong Kong independence activists and protesters.

TikTok’s owner ByteDance was accused in a US court filing by former executive Yintao Yu of allowing members of the Chinese Communist Party to access user information and identify and monitor those who uploaded “protest-related content.”

The CCP members were also able to access US TikTok user data, according to Mr Yintao.

A ByteDance spokesperson denied the claims, saying: “We plan to vigorously oppose what we believe are baseless claims and allegations in this complaint.”

They also said that Mr Yintao had been employed by the company for less than a year and in that time worked on a now-discontinued app called Flipagram.

The spokesperson said: “It’s curious that Mr Yu has never raised these allegations in the five years since his employment for Flipagram was terminated in July 2018.

“His actions are clearly intended to garner media attention.”

The allegations are contained in a San Francisco Superior Court filing made this week as part of a lawsuit brought by Mr Yintao.

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