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Ex-ByteDance worker claims TikTok owner stole content, inflated user numbers in lawsuit over firing

  • Roger Yu Yintao claims ByteDance fired him for reporting concerns about a ‘worldwide scheme’ to steal content and fabricate user engagement metrics
  • Yu, a California resident, joined ByteDance as head of engineering in the US in 2017 and was terminated the following year

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The TikTok logo displayed in front of the company’s office on August 27, 2020, in Culver City, California. Photo: AFP
Bloomberg
ByteDance Inc’s former head of engineering in the US said in a lawsuit he was fired for voicing concerns to management that the TikTok owner was stealing copyrighted content from other platforms including Instagram and Snapchat. He also alleges the company fabricated users to exaggerate its metrics and help the China’s Communist Party spread propaganda to a larger audience.

Roger Yu Yintao said he learned soon after he joined the company in 2017 that ByteDance had for years undertaken a “worldwide scheme (including in California) to steal and profit from the copyrighted works of others”, according to his complaint filed Friday in San Francisco state court.

He also discovered that the company was programming fabricated users to “like” and “follow” real user accounts to boost the engagement metrics relied on by potential investors, according to the complaint.

Yu alleges the company was driven by a “culture of lawlessness” that focused on growth at all costs.

“He was surprised by the brazenly unlawful conduct within the company, which was euphemistically excused as ‘entrepreneurship’,” according to the complaint.

When Yu reported his concerns to higher-ups they were dismissive or asked him to hide the illegal activity, and he was eventually terminated in late 2018 after a medical leave, according to the suit, which identifies one supervisor who was in “a position to retaliate” against him as Kelly Zhang, who is now ByteDance China’s chief executive officer.

TikTok has been under intense scrutiny from Congress and a federal national security review over concerns about potential influence from the Chinese government because ByteDance is based in China. Multiple bills have been introduced that would limit or ban the app in the US.

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