In his first testimony before Congress this morning, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced criticism and calls for a U.S. ban of the app.
Chew
made his first appearance before the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce on Thursday, where he attempted to convince lawmakers that
TikTok is safe. The video-sharing app is owned by China-based ByteDance,
which is required under law to share data with Beijing if requested to
do so.
- U.S. lawmakers and federal
agencies are worried that TikTok may be forced to share its U.S. user
data with the Chinese government or be used for influence operations.
They are also concerned about the app's effects on children and
teenagers.
- Chew attempted to assuage those concerns. On Thursday, he argued
that divesting the U.S. app from ByteDance would not offer added
security or protection over another plan that the company has proposed
to safeguard U.S. user data.
- "TikTok itself is not available in
mainland China, we’re headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and
we have 7,000 employees in the U.S. today," he said.
- U.S. Rep.
Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the committee chair, told Chew that TikTok
"should be banned" and "when you celebrate the 150 million American
users on TikTok, it emphasizes the urgency for Congress to act."
- Rep. Frank Pallone was skeptical
that TikTok's security plans would be effective, saying he believes
"the Beijing communist government will still control and have the
ability to influence what you do."
- Earlier this month, the U.S. government called on ByteDance to sell its stake in the U.S. version of the app or face a ban.
- Hours before Chew's testimony, China's government said it would vehemently oppose a forced sale of TikTok.
- A
Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesperson argued that the move would
“seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world,
including China, to invest in the United States."
