A report published by the American magazine, Forbes, has found a link between employees at the tech firm ByteDance (both current and formerly employed), which is also the parent company of the social media platform TikTok, and Chinese state-backed media houses. Forbes looked into a number of public LinkedIn profiles to arrive at this conclusion. 

Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International, and China Central / China Global Television are the Chinese media houses these employees of ByteDance are said to have been associated with. The report refers to them as the “propaganda arm of the Chinese government”.

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Around 23 ByteDance directors had previously worked in various leadership roles, including “media cooperation”, in these organisations. 15 ByteDance employees are also reportedly working simultaneously for the company as well as these Chinese state-sponsored media houses. A former content strategy manager for TikTok is currently Xinhua News’ chief correspondent, the report suggests.

Forbes also spoke to ByteDance spokesperson Jennifer Banks regarding the issue, where she said that such hirings were done strictly on the basis of professional merit. She continued, “For our China-market businesses, that includes people who have previously worked in government or state media positions in China”. She further added that employees from various backgrounds, including public policy, government, and others, bring in a range of experiences.

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However, regarding the report that some employees were working two jobs at the same time, Banks said that the company “does not allow employees to hold second or part-time jobs, or any outside business activity, that would cause a conflict of interest”.

Forbes also spoke to James Lewis, Strategic Technologies Program’s director at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, regarding this trend. The director, despite saying that said that such transitions could be a natural career course for many individuals, also pointed out that “ties back to the old homestead might be concerning”.

TikTok has widely influenced the American social media landscape, and in 2019, former US President Donald Trump, along with a number of US politicians, had called for the platform to be banned in the country.