Communist Party Pipeline: 300 Current TikTok and ByteDance Employees Come from Chinese State Media

The LinkedIn profiles for hundreds of China-owned Tiktok and ByteDance employees reveal that many used to work for Chinese state media, and in some cases still maintain their employment with Chinese government mouthpieces.

Forbes reports that three hundred current employees at TikTok and its parent company ByteDance previously worked for Chinese state media publications, according to public employee LinkedIn profiles. 23 of the profiles appear to have been created by current ByteDance directors who manage departments relating to content partnerships, public affairs, corporate social responsibility, and “media cooperation.”

15 profiles indicate that current ByteDance employees are also employed by Chinese state media entities while working at TikTok’s parent company. Some of these publications include Xinhua News Agency, China Radio International and China Central / China Global Television. All of these organizations have been designated “foreign government functionaries” by the State Department.