A former TikTok employee has claimed that the company tried to conceal its ties to ByteDance, its Chinese owner. Evan Turner, a former senior data scientist, worked at TikTok from April to September 2022 and stated that he was assigned to a manager in Seattle but never met them. Instead, he was informed during a video call that he would still be working under a Beijing-based ByteDance executive.
Turner alleges that he had weekly meetings with the Beijing-based executive to discuss his progress with tasks, contradicting what TikTok executives had previously claimed about the company operating independently from ByteDance. Turner criticized the opaque management structure and expressed frustration with the lack of transparency.
However, a TikTok spokesperson denied Turner’s claims, calling them unfounded assertions from disgruntled ex-employees. The spokesperson accused Fortune of relying on individuals with hidden motives to spread false information.
This controversy comes as TikTok faces potential legislation that could force ByteDance to sell the app to non-Chinese owners. A bill passed by the House last month threatens a ban on TikTok in app stores unless a sale is made. US lawmakers have expressed concerns about the app being “controlled” by foreign entities and posing security risks to the US. TikTok has maintained that it operates independently from ByteDance and has attempted to distance itself from its Chinese owner.