As The Popular News App Newsbreak Faces Scrutiny For Publishing Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Generated Fake News Stories, Its Concerning Ties To China Have Added To The Growing Concerns Surrounding Data Privacy And Potential Misinformation Campaigns.
While Newsbreak Operates Out Of Mountain View, California, The Company Also Maintains Offices In Beijing And Shanghai. Alarmingly, About Half Of Its 200 Employees, Including A Significant Portion Of Its Engineering Staff, Are Based In China, Raising Questions About The Potential Access To American User Data By Chinese Entities.
This Revelation Draws Unsettling Parallels To The Recent Controversy Surrounding TikTok, Where Concerns Were Raised About The Potential Transfer Of User Data To China. Although Newsbreak Maintains That It Complies With U.S. Data And Privacy Laws And Stores Data On U.S.-Based Amazon Servers, The Fact That Staff In China Can Access Anonymous Data Is Hardly Reassuring.
The App’s Origins Further Fuel These Concerns. Newsbreak Was Initially Launched As A Subsidiary Of Yidian, A Chinese News Aggregation App, And Both Companies Were Founded By Jeff Zheng, Newsbreak’s CEO. While Yidian Divested From Newsbreak In 2019, The Two Companies Still Share A U.S. Patent For An “Interest Engine” Algorithm.
As Newsbreak Grapples With The Fallout From Its Publication Of AI-Generated Fake News Stories, Including Copyright Infringement Lawsuits From Local News Providers And Criticism For Creating Stories Under Fictitious Bylines, Its Ties To China Add Another Layer Of Concern For American Users.
In An Era Where Misinformation Campaigns And Data Privacy Breaches Have Become Increasingly Prevalent, Newsbreak’s Questionable Practices And Opaque Connections Raise Legitimate Concerns About The Integrity Of The Information It Provides And The Potential Risks To User Data Privacy.
