WASHINGTON (NEWSnet/AP) — U.S. Department of Justice on Friday accused TikTok of gathering bulk information from users, based on views about such topics as abortion, gun control and religion.

In a brief filed to the federal appeals court in Washington, government lawyers wrote that TikTok and parent company ByteDance used an internal web-suite system called Lark to enable employees to speak directly with ByteDance engineers in China.

TikTok employees used Lark to send sensitive data pertaining to U.S. users, information that was stored on China servers and accessible to ByteDance employees, federal officials said.

One of Lark’s internal search tools permits ByteDance and TikTok employees in the U.S. and China to gather information on users' content.

In 2023, Wall Street Journal reported TikTok had tracked users who watched LGBTQ content through a dashboard the company said it had deleted.

Under a law signed in April by President Joe Biden, TikTok could face a ban if it doesn't break its connection with ByteDance.

The measure was passed after lawmakers and administration officials expressed concern that China authorities could force ByteDance to release U.S. user data or sway public opinion toward Beijing’s interests by manipulating the algorithm that populates users’ feeds.

Justice Department officials are asking the court to allow a classified version of its legal brief, which won't be accessible to the two companies.

Nothing in the redacted brief “changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side," TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for September.

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