TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified earlier than Congress on Thursday amid rising considerations over the app‘s future within the US. Lawmakers grilled Chew for greater than 5 hours however the considerations largely remained unanswered. The TikTok govt repeated statements from his written testimony saying that the video-based social media platform or its Chinese language dad or mum firm ByteDance doesn’t have any backdoors for China’s CCP (Chinese language Communist Get together) led authorities, and it did little to fulfill the lawmakers.
TikTok CEO didn't fulfill the US lawmakers at his first Congressional listening to
Calling for a nationwide ban on TikTok, Home Vitality and Commerce Committee chair and consultant Cathy Rodgers stated that “ByteDance is beholden to the CCP, and ByteDance and TikTok are one and the identical”. She made the remarks in her opening statements through the Congressional listening to yesterday. She urged that CCP might achieve entry to the private knowledge of American TikTok customers via ByteDance. In response, TikTok CEO, who acknowledged in his written testimony that “ByteDance just isn't an agent of China,” pointed to Undertaking Texas.
Undertaking Texas is TikTok’s plan to maintain knowledge of US customers throughout the US. It has teamed up with Texas-based software program firm Oracle to safeguard the info within the latter’s servers. The info could be inaccessible to anybody exterior the US. Anticipated to be accomplished later this yr, TikTok officers say this may do extra to guard American customers than an outright ban for the app. Nevertheless, the plan has been within the works for over a yr now and nothing has materialized. Unsurprisingly, lawmakers are dropping endurance and belief within the firm.
Throughout the listening to, committee members have been all skeptical of TikTok’s plan to deal with America’s nationwide safety considerations. Rodgers branded it a “advertising and marketing scheme,” whereas Consultant Frank Pallone stated, “Undertaking Texas is just not acceptable”. Consultant Angie Craig additionally echoed these sentiments saying that the plan “doesn’t move the scent take a look at”. These disagreements continued all through the almost six-hour showdown. Chew additionally annoyed lawmakers by declining to reply a number of “rapid-fire” questions with a Sure or No.
When requested whether or not ByteDance was a Chinese language firm, he stated that it’s a “international” agency with a Chinese language founder. Equally, he refused to straight reply whether or not ByteDance workers had spied on American journalists, one thing the corporate admitted doing a couple of months again. “I don’t assume ‘spying’ is the correct approach to describe it,” Chew stated. “That is in the end an inside investigation”. After all, this assertion sparked sharp criticism. TikTok shortly took to Twitter to level out that Chew firmly stated “no” when requested if it spied on behalf of the CCP.
Chew pointed to current updates when requested about teen security
The TikTok CEO equally dodged many different complicated questions from Congress members, together with one concerning the inside workings of ByteDance and its China-based workers, Engadget reports. He was additionally pressed with questions on teen security. He was requested concerning the platform’s moderation practices and probably dangerous “challenges” that go viral on the platform.
Chew pointed to numerous adjustments and updates TikTok has pushed just lately. He talked concerning the devoted STEM (science, know-how, engineering, and math) feed, display time restrict, and extra. The TikTok CEO additionally talked about the platform’s newly-added algorithm reset button. Customers could make the app overlook every little thing it has discovered about them and begin afresh, ought to they really feel unsafe with the content material they presently see within the algorithmic feed.
Nevertheless, none of this was sufficient to deal with the lawmakers’ nationwide safety considerations. Some have known as for a sale of TikTok within the US, although Chinese language officers have opposed the concept. Chew, in the meantime, stated: “We might want to take a look at this as a result of Undertaking Texas is designed to maneuver ahead right here in the USA and we're not discussing this”. As issues stand, TikTok’s future is unsure even after the hours-long grilling of its CEO by lawmakers. We’ll have to attend and see what’s subsequent.