
Get in the KNOW
on LA Startups & Tech
XJustice Dept. Calls TikTok 'Direct Threat' to Privacy and Security of US
Tami Abdollah was dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.

Justice Department lawyers argued in a federal court filing Thursday that TikTok's explosive growth and its relationship to the Chinese Communist Party made the popular social media app "a direct threat to the privacy and security of U.S. persons."
The U.S. Department of Justice filing is in response to a request by one of TikTok's U.S.-based employees for a judge to pause President Trump's ordered ban on TikTok, which would take effect on Sept. 21. The filing is a first look at the U.S. government's arguments against TikTok and its employee's efforts to push back on the ban.
TikTok has found itself in the Trump administration's line of fire over concerns that its China-based parent company, ByteDance Ltd., is sharing the popular app's data with the communist government. On August 6, Trump issued an executive order giving the app 45 days before "transactions" with the platform are banned. Meanwhile, the president has also pushed for a sale of TikTok to a U.S.-based parent company.
Last month TikTok technical program manager Patrick S. Ryan filed his federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California accusing Trump of violating his Constitutional rights and defaming and disgracing U.S.-based TikTok Inc. employees by painting them as working for the Chinese Communist Party.
The government's filing states that Chinese law imposes "broad obligations on citizens and companies to cooperate" with the Chinese Communist government and that they must provide data and technological support to security agencies and the military.
"ByteDance is a Chinese company through and through," the filing argues. "It is headquartered in Beijing, subject to Chinese intelligence laws, contains internal CCP committees, and its founder and CEO has publicly affirmed that the company is committed to promoting the agenda and messaging of the CCP."
The government's Thursday filing asked U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, an Obama appointee, to deny Ryan's request for a temporary restraining order, immediately pausing the ban.
TikTok has called the government's allegations against it "speculative" and has said it took "extensive" efforts to address the administration's concerns about national security. The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment, but a spokesman previously told dot.LA that the company has "never provided user data to the Chinese government, nor would we do so if asked."
But because Trump's executive order bans generic "transactions," Ryan argues it's unclear if TikTok Inc. can even pay its 1,500 U.S.-based employees their wages and salaries when it goes into effect later this month.
Ryan's attorneys argue that he and other TikTok employees are in "imminent danger of losing their livelihood through governmental action that has no basis in fact, was politically driven, and afforded (Ryan) no procedural protections," according to court filings.
The U.S. Department of Commerce doesn't need to define the term "transaction" until the day the order takes effect, making it unclear if it will ultimately exempt wages and salaries for employees.
"The 1,500 TikTok employees working in the U.S. and their families will not be able to pay their rent or mortgages, or pay for food, medical treatments, and other essentials of life," Ryan's filing for a temporary restraining order states. "The executive order has offered no evidence that TikTok has breached national security interests, is capable of breaching national security interests or is about to breach national security interests."
Moreover, because Trump's executive order states that any effort to violate it is deemed a "conspiracy," the language could have a "chilling effect" on people going to work and doing their jobs, said Alexander Urbelis, a partner at Blackstone Law Group LLP, which represents Ryan.
The penalties for such a violation are not trivial. A violator can be fined up to $1 million or 20 years in prison.
Many of the 1,500 employees are new, as TikTok expanded from 300 employees a year ago to five times that number today. The order also jeopardizes the immigrant visas of employees in the U.S. on H1B visas that require an employer to sponsor them, the lawsuit alleges.
Ryan's lawsuit is believed to be the first time an employee has sued the president over an executive order, Urbelis said. But Justice Department attorneys argued Thursday that while Ryan is an employee of TikTok, the executive order doesn't directly impact him. They add that Ryan has not alleged that the president "intended to injure him personally," which could give him a case.
"As an employee of a private company, (Ryan) does not have protected property interest in future wages and unearned salary," the government's filing argues.
While Trump's executive order is founded on the government interest of "preventing the PRC (People's Republic of China) from using TikTok to surveil the American people, censor information, sow misinformation, and collect and use 'vast swaths' of personal and proprietary information from American users to advance the PRC's own interests."
Justice Department attorneys argue that the president has discretion over what constitutes a national emergency, and that it is "essentially a political question," not a legal one.
Ryan's attorney, Urbelis, said in a statement Thursday that the government's arguments are an obvious after-the-fact effort to cover for the president's "ill-considered actions."
"The President's own words and the timing of his statements signaled an obvious intention to target and punish TikTok (as part) of the president's tough-on-China political play and because TikTok users have levied trenchant criticisms of the president and his administration," Urbelis said.
In a brief filed Thursday in support of Ryan's lawsuit, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy group, and two TikTok users argued that the executive order has a "direct and arguably intentional effect" on the First Amendment rights of millions of people to communicate free of government interference.
"It is hard to imagine the national security interests that would be compromised by a foreign power knowing viewership data of most of the content on TikTok," the amicus brief states, adding that the order is too broad.
Trump issued a second executive order on Aug. 14 giving ByteDance 90 days to divest itself of its U.S. TikTok operations. Trump has said he supports the potential acquisition of TikTok by Oracle, though ByteDance has reportedly been in talks with multiple interested suitors, including Microsoft and Walmart. Amid those talks, TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned last week.
__
Do you have a story that needs to be told? My DMs are open on Twitter @latams. You can also email me at tami(at)dot.la, or ask for my contact on Signal, for more secure and private communications.
- TikTok Employee Asks Judge to Halt Trump's Ban on Popular Video ... ›
- 'I'm a Patriot': US Employee Sues Trump Admin Over TikTok Ban ›
- TikTok Employee Asks Judge to Halt Ban on Popular Video App ... ›
- Could U.S. Ban Chinese-Owned TikTok? - dot.LA ›
- DOJ: TikTok Employees Will Get Paid Despite Trump's Order - dot.LA ›
- With No Word from Trump, TikTok Asks Judge for Ban Extension - dot.LA ›
- Is TikTok Getting Banned in the US? - dot.LA ›
- Report: TikTok Fails to Police Political Ads on Its Platform - dot.LA ›
- Biden Ends Ban on TikTok, WeChat - dot.LA ›
- TikTok Updates Content Rules and Guidelines - dot.LA ›
- TikTok Nears Deal With Oracle Over U.S. Data Security Fears - dot.LA ›
Tami Abdollah was dot.LA's senior technology reporter. She was previously a national security and cybersecurity reporter for The Associated Press in Washington, D.C. She's been a reporter for the AP in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times and for L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC. Abdollah spent nearly a year in Iraq as a U.S. government contractor. A native Angeleno, she's traveled the world on $5 a day, taught trad climbing safety classes and is an avid mountaineer. Follow her on Twitter.
Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.
With West Hollywood becoming a hub for cannabis consumption lounges and many Silicon Beach companies embracing virtual reality, it was only a matter of time before two of Los Angeles’ two burgeoning industries started mingling.
While many cannabis firms are still figuring out how to incorporate the metaverse and Web3 applications like NFTs, Canoga Park’s Saucey Farms & Extracts has become one of the first business to offer THC products in the metaverse as part of a dispensary in Cryptovoxels, a virtual platform build on the Ethereum blockchain. Local weed brand Califari, meanwhile, recently sold NFT artwork to support the cannabis-oriented criminal justice nonprofit The Last Prisoner Project. Then there’s groups like the Crypto Cannabis Club (CCC), an organization centered around 10,000 “NFTokers” that gives holders discounts on cannabis products and has hosted weed-themed meetups in the Decentraland metaverse.
According to Crypto Cannabis Club CEO Ryan Hunter, about 20% of the community is based in California, with the organization’s most active chapter located in Southern California. Hunter said that CCC uses different metaverses based on its needs; if the Club wants to host virtual 4/20 or 7/10 gatherings for all of its members, those would take place in Decentraland because it’s “more of a wide-open space,” while interactive gaming experience would be on The Sandbox platform, where noted weed entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has already staked a claim.
Hunter views the metaverse as a bridge between real-world cannabis enthusiasts and those who are passionate about virtual experiences.
“We’re trying to intentionally create a community of folks that are part of the cannabis community in the real world, and want to be a part of the cannabis community as it expands into the metaverse [and] these virtual communities that are developing,” he said.
In addition to cannabis ventures, artists are also exploring how the metaverse and Web3 can help them connect with new audiences. Reece Kinsbursky, art director of the The Artist Tree dispensary chain, told dot.LA that he has received interest from artists about showing their NFT artwork on the dispensary’s walls; one even explored marketing a piece for sale via a QR code that would be displayed in the dispensary. (While The Artist Tree does not currently display NFT art at its stores, Kinsbursky didn’t rule it out in the future.)
“It certainly has the capabilities to change a lot in how the ecommerce space functions,” he said of the overlap between NFTs and cannabis. “But it’s too soon to tell.”
Cannabis aside, the metaverse is blossoming into a major focus for tech companies in Los Angeles. From social media companies like Snap to entertainment giants like Disney, there are no shortage of players leveraging virtual reality to grow their businesses and expand how they interact with audiences.
Likewise, Hunter and other cannabis entrepreneurs hope that engaging with metaverse platforms can expand their brand awareness and ecommerce presence. In addition to launching a direct-to-consumer offering—featuring collectible NFTs—in partnership with delivery company CampNova, CCC is building a dispensary in Cryptovoxels to display products from partner brands. In time, Hunter wants the virtual dispensary experience to mirror the real one, complete with a cultivation space where visitors can learn about the growing process.
As for cannabis consumers who may doubt the metaverse’s potential, Hunter believes a little skepticism is healthy.“I think there’s every reason for them to be suspicious, and that’s a great way to approach it,” he said. “I’m not trying to convince anybody. We’re trying to create a community that earns its place—and hopefully we’ll find folks who are open-minded, and they’ll tell friends who are less open-minded and convince them.”
- Snoop Dogg's Cannabis VC Firm Sparks Edible Brand - dot.LA ›
- LEUNE: a California Cannabis Company Backed by Star Power ... ›
Tech Is Upsetting the Table at This Year's Upfronts
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
Are the upfronts turning into TV execs’ personal “Black Mirror'' episode?
The annual feeding frenzy—in which C-suite television executives auction off highly-viewed (and costly) advertising time slots— is changing as new streaming behemoths shake up the market. The event often gives viewers and industry watchers insight on what shows are poised to become cultural phenomena, but that too seems to be disrupted at this year’s proceedings.
It’s been two years since major networks and television players convened in New York for a week, and it’s clear that technology is going to change a lot about how the process works.
Streaming, a popular way to view content, doesn’t follow traditional ad slots the way broadcast does. Nonetheless, last year ad-enabled streaming services–including Peacock and Hulu–slurped up a large slice of ad dollars. But this year may prove a turning point, as services like HBOMax and Disney Plus begin tinkering with ad-laced streaming, and Netflix promises to quickly roll out an ad-supported subscription tier. Large networks like ABC and NBC will have to start competing with streaming for the favor of companies and their ad money.
Another thing changing the market: the ads themselves. With more data at their fingertips, streaming services can offer far more personalized and targeted services than their network counterparts. Netflix and Disney collect mountains of data that can gauge what ads are most relevant to their viewers. That’s a huge plus for advertisers, even if streaming services like Disney restrict what kind of ads it will show.
Legacy TV companies have already taken note. NBCUniversal took great pains at Monday’s pitch meeting to offer their Peacock streaming service as an example of a dual streaming-and-broadcast model and lambasted streaming services that once showed disdain for advertisers and ad breaks.
“At those companies, advertising could seem like an afterthought… or even worse, a new idea for a revenue stream, but not here,” NBCUniversal’s ad sales chief Linda Yaccarino said, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “At NBCUniversal, advertising has always been an asset for our business… designed to enhance your business.”
Adding to the instability, Nielsen ratings, which has been the universal standard for measuring viewership, is being challenged. The company’s ratings were once the gold standard used, in part, to determine the time slots and networks that had the most viewers (and which became the most coveted by advertisers).
Last year, Variety reported major networks complained that the company was likely undercounting viewership due to pandemic-related restrictions, like being unable to go into peoples’ homes and making sure the data-collecting technology was properly working. In its wake, software-enabled startups have popped up to better gather data remotely.
Washington-based iSpot.tv received a $325 million investment from Goldman Sachs after acquiring similar companies including El Segundo-based Ace Metrix and Temecula-based DRMetrix. Pasadena-based tvScientific raised $20 million in April to glean adtech data from smart tvs. Edward Norton’s adtech firm EDO raised $80 million in April and booked a deal with Discovery ahead of the upfronts.
Nielsen also lost its accreditation with the Media Ratings Council, and without a standard ratings guide for the industry, navigating the upfronts will be a far more uncertain and nebulous process for both networks and advertisers.
With tens of billions of dollars on the line, advertisers are demanding more than just well-produced shows networks and streaming services alike—sophisticated ad placements is the name of the game.
- Can a Niche Streaming Service Survive the Streaming Wars? - dot.LA ›
- Why Netflix, Hulu, Disney and Amazon Don't Want You Watching TV ... ›
- As the Streaming Wars Heat Up, Why Are Consumers Losing Out ... ›
Keerthi Vedantam is a bioscience reporter at dot.LA. She cut her teeth covering everything from cloud computing to 5G in San Francisco and Seattle. Before she covered tech, Keerthi reported on tribal lands and congressional policy in Washington, D.C. Connect with her on Twitter, Clubhouse (@keerthivedantam) or Signal at 408-470-0776.
Atlas Obscura, L.A. Tourism Dept. Partner on Explorer’s Guide to LA
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Samson is also a proud member of the Transgender Journalists Association. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him
The Los Angeles Tourism Department partnered with curiosities and travel website Atlas Obscura for a first of its kind digital interactive map of L.A. County’s top attractions, just in time for the summer influx of tourists.
Visitors to L.A. – or locals looking for a fun reason to leave their apartments – can scroll the interactive map on a browser or download the app.
Image courtesy of the L.A. Tourism Dept.
The “Discover Los Angeles” map can be broken down by neighborhood or by a series of “guides,” which all feature as part of the larger promotional campaign roll-out known as the Explorer’s Guide to L.A
Atlas Obscura and the Tourism Department also published a hardcover edition of the Explorer’s Guide, along with several other speciality breakout guides, including the Meeting Planners Guide, artistic Visitor’s Map and, for those with more expensive tastes, the L.A. Luxury Guide to the city’s pricier pursuits. The paper versions of the guides have QR codes for travelers to scan and take information with them on the go.
This year’s collaboration with Atlas Obscura gives the Tourism Department’s previous guide a much-needed update – it was previously a whopping 136-page PDF document created in 2020.
The Explorer’s Guide includes a mix of places you’d expect to see on the map, like Griffith Park and the museum at the La Brea Tar Pits. It also has some unlikely spots sourced from Atlas Obscura’s network of local explorers who recommended their favorite places to visit: the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Venice Canals or the Watts Towers, a stunning, monumental public art exhibit of mosaic steel towers that was built by one Italian immigrant over a 34-year period.
30 neighborhoods are discussed in the guide, from classic tourist destinations like Hollywood and beach cities like Santa Monica and Venice to lesser-known but still exciting enclaves like Leimert Park, Frogtown and Little Ethiopia. There’s also several maps for specific interests – taqueria lovers will find new spots to nosh with the taco map, and there’s also a map of the Downtown Arts District, spots to stargaze and sports venues.
“For myself and the writers and editors on this project, many of them L.A. natives, getting to write and curate the official visitors guide to the city of L.A. was an absolute dream,” Atlas Obscura co-founder Dylan Thuras said in a statement. “We hope that these guides will inspire all the curious travelers arriving in L.A., to try new things, as well as providing new adventures for longtime L.A. residents. There is really no limit to what L.A. has to offer.”
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Samson is also a proud member of the Transgender Journalists Association. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter at @Samsonamore. Pronouns: he/him