Police have announced the arrest of a suspect allegedly connected to multiple online threats that prompted TikTok to evacuate its headquarters near Los Angeles on Friday.
The Threats and Evacuation
The Culver City Police Department released a statement confirming that TikTok employees had reported receiving numerous threats across various social media platforms from 33-year-old Joseph Mayuyo, a resident of Hawthorne. After an additional message specifically threatened TikTok’s Culver City headquarters, company security ordered an evacuation of the office “out of an abundance of caution,” according to police. Business Insider reported that one TikTok employee described the threats as “really scary,” with another noting concern that the messages seemed to specifically target the e-commerce department.
Police subsequently investigated Mayuyo’s home. During the course of the investigation, he allegedly posted further threatening statements online, including one declaring that he would not be taken alive. Detectives successfully obtained both search and arrest warrants and then negotiated with Mayuyo for 90 minutes. The police department confirmed that Mayuyo eventually exited his home voluntarily and was taken into custody. The police department praised TikTok’s security team in the press release “for their quick action, collaboration, and professionalism throughout this case.”
Suspect’s Background and Corporate Context
Mayuyo’s X account was reportedly suspended due to violating the platform’s hateful content policy. Additionally, a Medium account under his name had published a post in July that contained criticism of TikTokShop USA, calling it a “scam.” This arrest occurs while TikTok’s U.S. operations are in the process of being spun out from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, into a new joint venture with a new board of directors. President Donald Trump, who has been vocal about the deal for many months, recently signed an executive order approving the sale.
What The Author Thinks
The swift evacuation of a major corporate headquarters over digital threats underscores the critical and immediate security risk posed by anonymous online malice in the modern era. While law enforcement’s successful negotiation and arrest are positive, the incident highlights a core vulnerability: a single disgruntled individual can weaponize the ubiquity of social media to disrupt the physical operations of a multinational company. This event forces platforms to treat online threats not as isolated digital incidents, but as real-world safety crises that require massive and costly protective responses.
Featured image credit: Tech Insider via Unsplash
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