TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s first congressional appearance spanned more than five hours, with controversial questions about the app’s relationship with China and protections for its younger users.
Chew’s appearance comes at a crucial time for TikTok, which is facing bipartisan criticism after experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years. The company is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, raising concerns about Chinese influence over the app, criticisms that Chew repeatedly tried to resist during the hearing.
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” he said in prepared testimony.
He defended TikTok’s privacy practices, saying they are in line with those of other social media platforms, adding that in many cases the app collects less data than its peers. “There are more than 150 million Americans who love our platform and we know we have a responsibility to protect them,” Chew said.
Here are some of the other key criticisms Chew faced at Thursday’s landmark hearing, and what could happen.
TikTok’s relationship with China under fire
Many committee members focused on ByteDance and its executives, who lawmakers say have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Committee members asked how often Chew was in contact with them and questioned whether the company’s proposed solution, called Project Texas, would offer sufficient protection against Chinese laws that require companies to make user data accessible to the public. government.
At one point, Tony Cárdenas, a Democrat from California, asked Chew directly if TikTok is a Chinese company. Chew responded that TikTok is global in nature, not available in mainland China, and is based in Singapore and Los Angeles.
Neal Dunn, a Republican from Florida, asked with similar candor whether ByteDance has “spyed on US citizens,” a question that arose amid reports that the company accessed information from journalists in an attempt to identify which employees were leaking. information. Chew responded that “spying is not the right way to describe it.”
Concerns about the viability of the ‘Texas Project’
In an effort to deflect concerns about Chinese influence, TikTok has pledged to move all US user data to domestic servers through an effort dubbed Project Texas, a plan that would also allow the US tech company to Oracle examine the TikTok source code and act as a third party. party monitor
The company promised to complete the effort by the end of the year, but some lawmakers questioned whether that’s possible, with hundreds of millions of lines of source code requiring review in a relatively short period of time.
“I’m concerned that what you’re proposing with the Texas Project simply doesn’t have the technical capability to give us the assurances we need,” said California Republican Jay Obernolte, congressman and software engineer.
Youth safety and mental health in the spotlight
Another frequent focus was the safety of young TikTok users, considering that the app has skyrocketed in popularity among this age group in recent years. The majority of teens in the US say they use TikTok: 67% of 13-17 year olds say they have used the app and 16% of that age group say they use it “almost constantly” , according to the Pew Research Center.
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The lawmakers cited reports that drug-related content has spread on the app, allowing teens to easily buy dangerous substances online. Chew said such content violates TikTok’s policy and is removed when identified.
“We take this very seriously,” Chew said. “This is a challenge for the entire industry, and we are investing as much as we can. We don’t think it represents the experience of most users on TikTok, but it does happen.”
Others mentioned self-harm and disordered eating content, which has been spreading on the platform. TikTok is also facing lawsuits over deadly “challenges” that have gone viral on the app. Mental health concerns were underscored at the hearing by the appearance of Dean and Michelle Nasca, the parents of a teenager who committed suicide after allegedly being sent unsolicited self-harm content on TikTok.
“We need you to do your part,” said Congresswoman Kim Schrier, who is a pediatrician. “It could save this generation.”
Uncertainty lingers over a possible ban
The federal government has already banned TikTok on government devices, and the Biden administration has threatened a nationwide ban. Thursday’s hearing left the app’s future in the US uncertain, as committee members seemed unwavering in their conviction that TikTok was a tool that could be exploited by the Chinese Communist Party. His conviction was reinforced for a report in the Wall Street Journal, published just hours before the hearing, stating that the Chinese government would not approve the sale of TikTok.
Lawmakers outside the committee are also unconvinced. US Senators Mark Warner and John Thune said in a statement that all Chinese companies “are ultimately obligated to comply with the orders of Chinese intelligence services, should they be asked to do so” and that nothing What Chew said in his testimony alleviated those concerns. Colorado Senator Michael Bennet also reiterated calls for an outright ban on TikTok.
But the idea of a national ban still faces major hurdles, both legal and in the court of public opinion. For one thing, previous attempts to ban TikTok under the Trump administration were blocked in court due in part to free speech concerns. TikTok also remains one of the fastest growing and most popular apps in the US and millions of its users are unlikely to want to leave it.
A coalition of civil liberties, privacy and security groups, including Fight for the Future, the Center for Democracy and Technology and the American Civil Liberties Union, have wrote a letter opposing the ban, arguing that it would violate constitutional rights to free speech. “A nationwide ban on TikTok would have serious ramifications for free speech in the digital sphere, infringing on the first amendment rights of Americans and setting a powerful and troubling precedent at a time of increased censorship of internet users across the globe. world,” the letter says.
Where the coalition and many House committee members agree is on the dire need for federal data privacy regulation that protects consumer information and controls all of the big tech platforms, including TikTok. The American Data Privacy Act, a bipartisan bill making its way in Washington, is an ongoing effort to address those concerns.
