The Division of Justice is investigating whether or not TikTok’s parent corporation, ByteDance, was allegedly involved in the surveillance of reporters who cover technologies, according to numerous news outlets. 

The agency is also investigating ByteDance alleged surveillance of U.S. citizens extra broadly, The New York Occasions reported. The investigation appears to be tied to ByteDance’s admission in December that some of its employees improperly accessed information of U.S. citizens.

An internal investigation performed by ByteDance identified that employees members did acquire access to details belonging to two reporters and men and women tied to them.

This comes as tensions involving the U.S. and China continue to develop more than a quantity of challenges, like safety issues more than TikTok. 

This week the Biden administration threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S. if its Chinese-primarily based parent corporation, ByteDance, did not sell its stake to an American corporation. This follows months of stress from U.S. and state lawmakers, mostly Republicans, to ban the social media app, particularly on government-issued devices.

TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, who is scheduled to testify ahead of a Residence panel subsequent week, stated promoting the app wouldn’t resolve any safety issues that they haven’t currently addressed.

A lot more specifics concerning the DOJ probe can be identified at TheHill.com.