DOJ says TikTok collected users' opinions on issues like abortion, gun control and religion

The Justice Department on Friday night asked a federal court to deny TikTok's request that the ban be lifted, citing national security concerns including the alleged use of internal search tools to gather information about users' opinions on sensitive topics. It comes in response to an attempt to challenge a law that now requires its China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a US ban. became official in April.

In one of the documents filed with the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, the DOJ says that a search tool within Lark, a web application used by the company's employees to communicate, “allowed employees of ByteDance and TikTok in the United States and China to collect information.” many users based on user content or expressions, including views on gun control, abortion, and religion.” The DOJ also argues in filings that TikTok could be used to subject US users to content fraud, and that their sensitive information could end up being stored on servers in China.

TikTok has repeatedly denied allegations that it poses a threat to national security and has called efforts to ban it “unconstitutional.” In its latest statement in response to the DOJ filing, filed in X, it said, “Nothing in this brief changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side.”