ByteDance — Ethics Grade F

ByteDance receives an overall ethics grade of F (18/100) on CancelCo's corporate accountability database. Sector: Social Media. Market cap: Large Cap.

Category scores

• labor: 40
• privacy: 5
• consumer: 20
• environment: 50
• humanRights: 10

Documented incidents (3)

• Journalist Surveillance (high, 2023) — The company admitted that employees accessed the IP addresses and user data of specific Western journalists to track their movements in an attempt to identify internal leakers.
• TikTok Addictive Design (high, 2024) — A lawsuit filed by dozens of U.S. states alleges the platform intentionally uses features like 'infinite scroll' and constant notifications to hook young users, despite internal warnings about mental health impacts.
• Censorship of Minorities (high, 2022) — Internal documents revealed instructions to suppress content related to specific religious groups and political protests across multiple regions to satisfy local government demands.

Documented good deeds

• Screen Time Controls — Introduced mandatory 60-minute screen time limits for users under 18, albeit with a bypass option.

Ethical alternatives

• Mastodon — Decentralized, non-profit driven social networking with no surveillance ads.