With the scrutiny and skepticism of dangerous liaisons with China mounting up against the social media app TikTok, CEO Shou Chew has been a very precipitous media interest. Like various other Tech executives that have stood before the lawmakers, TikTok CEO Chew faced the brunt of Congress.
The first appearance of TikTok CEO Shou Chew before the US Congress on Thursday was a battle of bruising, relentless wits of four-and-a-half hours.
TikTok’s popularity in America supersedes more than 150 million active users in addition to being the most downloaded app in the U.S. for the past two consecutive years, and yet CEO Shou Chew had to prepare his testimony in the same country. Lawmakers grilled Chew about TikTok, expressing their distrust of the company’s trivial attempts of protecting U.S. user data and the plausibility of national security risks stemming from TikTok’s ties to China (The app does not operate in China).
The threat from the Biden Administration to ban TikTok from the U.S. adds to the list of countries around the world that have banned the app including the UK, New Zealand, Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands.
Many tech companies including Yahoo, LinkedIn, and Airbnb have been exiting the Chinese market, or downsizing operations owing to Beijing’s strict privacy law on how companies can collect user data. What Chew wouldn’t say – or rather evade, dug a deeper hole for him when the hearing became a bipartisan committee decision to fight against the national security threat posed by TikTok.
TikTok And ByteDance:
The video-sharing platform’s ownership lies in the Chinese company ByteDance‘s hands. Chew refuted claims of TikTok sharing users’ data with the Chinese government and termed the bans as ‘basic misinformation’ which had been based on ‘no deliberation or evidence.’
In a statement to a representative, Chew admitted part of his compensation originated from Bytedance.
“I report to the CEO of ByteDance.”
Chew’s dodging of crucial questions made the lawmakers remind him of testifying under the threat of perjury, yet did not help his case. When interrogated about a ByteDance program to track the locations of US journalists on American soil, Chew condemned it but defended it against being named a spy campaign.
“I don’t think spying is the right way to describe it.”
Chew’s least successful defense was his attempt to obscure his ownership stake in ByteDance, previously having been the CFO. He was pressed by the lawmakers to provide clarity and he tried to downplay the connection of TikTok between ByteDance but in vain.
ByteDance’s Chinese Engineers Can Access US Data:
Chew tried to address the concerns of unwanted foreign access to US data and the potential manipulation of the company.
“Our approach has never been to trivialize any of the concerns. We have addressed them with real action.”
Despite Chew’s obfuscations, he brought startling information to light about the status of his lies regarding ByteDance.
“Project Texas” is a proposal that will store all data under the eye of the American firm Oracle. But before being fully operational, Chew confirmed that the ByteDance engineers had access to the data, stupefying legislators who couldn’t explain enough of data being accessed easily by the Chinese Government.
CEO Chew Stresses On TikTok Practices No Different Than US Tech Giants:
TikTok CEO Chew emphasized that the company was collecting data which was frequently collected by other companies in the same industry, deflecting claims and questions about TikTok’s data collection practices.
“We are committed to being very transparent with our users’ data and don’t believe we collect more than most players in the industry.”
The Impact Of TikTok On Children:
When asked whether his own children use TikTok, Chew said they didn’t because they reside in Singapore where the children-friendly version of the app is unavailable. With national security touting as the key focus, many congressmen and congresswomen could not ignore the concerns about TikTok’s impact on children.
The lack of content moderation for children left them exposed to potentially harmful content – even self-harm.
“Research concludes that TikTok’s algorithms recommend videos to teenagers that create and exacerbate emotional distress, promoting self-harm, suicide, and eating disorders.”
Citing an example of how a ‘blackout challenge’ video or choking challenge led to the death of a Pennsylvania 10-year-old girl trying to mimic the same, lawmakers were unaccepting of the safety of TikTok.
“Even after knowing all these dangers, you still claim that TikTok is something grand to behold. It’s unacceptable.”
The Federal Government’s Rhetoric:
Post the hearing, federal officials only ramped up the discussion’s rhetoric of ending TikTok one way or another, stating that it wouldn’t be enough for TikTok to divest from the Chinese counterpart, not knowing the extent of its influence.
Another US diplomat believed that the app is a threat to US National Security but claimed that TikTok would not be banned outright.
“The administration is aware of the challenges posed and will take action to address it.”
TikTok CEO Shou Chew came to Congress to convince them of a plan to protect US Data from any misuse from its Chinese affluence of ByteDance – not a single legislator bought it.
The 52-person committee’s skepticism was downright obvious on both sides of Republicans and Democrats, leaving TikTok aghast.
TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas tweeted her displeasure.
“It is a shame that today’s conversation felt rooted in xenophobia.”