Following an internal investigation, TikTok owner ByteDance today confirmed reports from this fall that claimed some of its employees used the popular app to track multiple journalists, including two in the US.Forbes reported that multiple reporters from its own publication were “part of this covert surveillance campaign.” A Buzzfeed reporter and UK-based Financial Times journalist Cristina Criddle were also surveilled, FT reported.ByteDance employees reportedly accessed reporters' TikTok accounts to obtain IP and user data, assessing whether there was any overlap with pings from known locations of ByteDance employees suspected of leaking.Forbes received access to one internal email from TikTok General Counsel Erich Andersen, which confirmed that Lepitak’s team “misused their authority to obtain access to TikTok user data” in tracking journalists.ByteDance spokesperson Hilary McQuaide echoed Andersen’s email in a statement saying that "the misconduct of certain individuals, who are no longer employed at ByteDance, was an egregious misuse of their authority to obtain access to user data.""