TikTok employees are reportedly being asked by US border officers if they're part of the Chinese Communist Party
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- US border officers have interrogated more than 30 ByteDance and TikTok employees, according to Forbes.
- They're being asked about ties to the CCP, and the security of American user data.
- TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced similar questions during a hearing in January.
US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers have interrogated more than 30 ByteDance and TikTok employees traveling to the US from China, according to a report by Forbes.
Employees are being asked a list of dedicated questions, including whether they have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and what access ByteDance and TikTok have to American user data, Forbes reported, citing anonymous sources close to the matter.
Employees from various teams — many of whom are Chinese — are also being asked by officers with CBP's Office of Field Operations about Project Texas, per Forbes, which is TikTok's overarching security plan to wall off American data from China.
They're also being asked about their educations and political connections, according to the outlet.
"CBP is tasked with protecting our nation's borders as well as enforcing numerous laws at our nation's ports of entry on behalf of a variety of other government agencies, including state and local law enforcement," a spokesperson for the agency told Business Insider. "All international travelers attempting to enter the United States, including all US citizens, are subject to examination."
President Biden signed a bill into law last week requiring Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores unless ByteDance divests its US operations within 270 days. TikTok has vowed to fight the legislation in court, citing First Amendment violations.
Forbes noted that the inquiries by border officers are similar to a line of questioning Sen. Tom Cotton posed to TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew during a congressional hearing in January.
At the time, Chew reminded Cotton multiple times that he is Singaporean.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Correction: May 1, 2024: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated which type of Customs and Border Patrol worker was questioning TikTok employees. The CBP staff were Office of Field Operations officers, not border patrol agents.