TikTok actively recruiting lobbyist as government begins security crackdowns

Video-sharing social network TikTok is actively recruiting a new lobbyist on Capitol Hill amidst a series of controversies and government action cracking down on the platform, according to a new job posting on LinkedIn.

The listing describes the position as "Public Policy Manager — Federal Government Affairs."

"You would advocate, internally and externally, for policy positions that benefit and protect the TikTok user community," said the listing. "As a member of the team, you would also identify, monitor and analyze relevant policy trends, legislative proposals, and issues of importance to the company."

The company is looking for a person with at least 8 years of experience in "Public Policy or Government," "Knowledge of the legislative process and tech policy," and "Capitol Hill, Agency or Administration experience," among several other requirements.

According to OpenSecrets, ByteDance, the Chinese company that owns TikTok, already spends millions of dollars on lobbying, with $3.95 million in direct lobbying and another $300,000 for its affiliates.

This comes as the federal government passed a provision in the end-of-year omnibus spending package that bans the use of TikTok on federal government devices. More than half of states have followed suit, partially or completely banning the app on state equipment. In many cases, these bans even extend to public colleges and universities, some of which now block TikTok from being accessed from campus wi-fi.

In November, the FBI issued a warning that TikTok, which is popular among teenagers, posed a potential threat to national security by giving the Chinese government a potential direct window into monitoring Americans, manipulating information, and possibly even controlling their devices.

ByteDance has vehemently denied it would ever use data this way and maintains it keeps a firewall between its operations in the U.S. and China. However, leaked audio from 80 internal TikTok meetings shows U.S. user data has been accessed remotely from China, and another report found ByteDance used another, now-defunct news app to push content praising the Chinese government, while suppressing information critical of it.

TikTok has also faced other controversies, including allegations that their algorithm encourages the sexual exploitation of children.