On February 27, 2026, the Douyin Assistant team under ByteDance issued a formal statement in response to recent rumors online about "security vulnerabilities in the Douyin Assistant." The statement pointed out that the relevant content is malicious hype and a typical case of black PR activities.
The statement said that during the Spring Festival, the user base of Douyin Assistant surged, and the company has set up a security vulnerability response platform to support those who report issues. However, as of now, the team has not received any detailed vulnerability reports about Douyin Assistant, nor has it received any notifications from relevant cybersecurity regulatory authorities. The product's operation strictly complies with the "Regulations on the Management of Security Vulnerabilities in Network Products," and publicly disclosing vulnerabilities in violation of these regulations is suspected of being illegal.
Regarding the video demonstration circulating online, the Douyin team emphasized that the related operations require users to actively request the AI to read malicious emails or text messages before sending them. Without user instructions, the AI will not automatically perform risky operations. The team has upgraded corresponding protective measures against the attack methods demonstrated in the video.
The statement strongly condemned the behavior of creating vulnerabilities without authorization, not reporting them to the manufacturer in compliance, and spreading organized safety panic content on online platforms while the relevant vulnerabilities have not been fully fixed, calling it a typical case of black PR hype. The company has taken evidence of the relevant content and reserves the right to pursue legal liability against the responsible parties.
The Douyin team also pointed out that screen visual understanding and automated operation capabilities are cutting-edge AI technologies globally, and new smartphones from both domestic and international manufacturers are equipped with similar automatic operation functions. The preview version of Douyin Assistant is still in the testing phase and will continue to refine the product based on user feedback, constantly upgrading its security protection capabilities.
