TikTok CEO's hearing begins at US Congress over China ties
US lawmakers began their hearing on Thursday (Mar 23) of TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi over the company’s alleged ties to the Chinese government and its danger to young people, as the popular video sharing app faces a ban in its biggest market.
“TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned,” Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and a Republican, said as she began the hearing.
She added: “TikTok collects nearly every data point imaginable – from people’s location to what they type and copy, who they talk to, to biometric data and more.
“We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values – values for freedom, human rights and innovation,” and said that the Chinese Communist Party “is able to use (TikTok) as a tool to manipulate America as a whole.”
Chew, who began his testimony speaking about his own Singaporean roots, said, “We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government,” adding that “it is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep (TikTok) free from any manipulation by any government.”
Chew told reporters ahead of the hearing that “there are many misconceptions about our company, and I’m very proud to come here and represent them and normal users here in this country.”
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Some political experts say a TikTok ban could be damaging to Democrats who have used the platform to reach younger voters. Three House Democrats rallied with TikTok creators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in opposition to a ban.
“Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?“ asked Representative Jamaal Bowman, a Democrat from New York, at a news conference on Wednesday. “Let’s do the right thing here – comprehensive social media reform as it relates to privacy and security.”
Still, far more US lawmakers want TikTok banned. TikTok last week said President Joe Biden’s administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban.
China’s Ministry of Commerce at a briefing on Thursday said that “forcing the sale of TikTok will seriously damage the confidence of investors from all over the world, including China, to invest in the United States. If the news is true, China will firmly oppose it.”
“Restricting access to a speech platform that is used by millions of Americans every day would set a dangerous precedent for regulating our digital public sphere more broadly,” said Jameel Jaffer, Knight First Amendment Institute executive director at Columbia University.
Chew’s testimony before Congress capped a week of actions by the Chinese company aimed at convincing Americans and their lawmakers that the app creates economic value and supports free speech.
TikTok, which has more than 150 million Americans users, has faced sharp accusations that its US user data would be shared with the Chinese government and that it fails to adequately protect children from harm.
TikTok has said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on what it calls rigorous data security efforts under the name “Project Texas” that currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees and is contracted with Oracle to store TikTok’s U.S. user data. It also says it rigorously screens content that could harm children. REUTERS, AFP
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