Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok, testified before the American Congress on why there shouldn’t be a complete ban on the app on Thursday, March 23. Over the last two months, the popular short video-sharing app has been banned from government devices as well as educational institutions in several states in the U.S.
Many legislators have raised concerns and speculation that the Chinese government has been spying on the United States of America through user data via TikTok.
The country's lawmakers have further argued that the app does not provide data protection to its users. However, ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok, has repeatedly denied these constant allegations of breach of privacy. In his appearance as well, Chew claimed that the app was going further than other major social media apps to protect their users' data.
On Thursday, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee raised their concerns about how much influence the Chinese Communist Party holds over the app. During his testimony, Shou Chew, who has an estimated net worth of $200 million, told Rep. John Joyce of Pennsylvania:
“I disagree with that characterization. I think the government devices should have no social media apps to be honest, not just targeted at us.”CEO Shou Chew denies that TikTok removes or promotes materials for the Chinese Communist Party
Shou Chew further told congressman Randy Weber that the app does not promote or remove any material on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, stating:
“We do not promote or remove any content on behalf of the Chinese government. There is content on TikTok that is critical of China.”In response, Weber told the CEO that TikTok was indoctrinating children and young people in the US with "woke propaganda."
Congressman Nanette Barragán asked if Shou Chew would let his 8-year-old child use the app, to which Chew replied that his children live in Singapore, and there they don't have the under-13 experience that the application provides. He continued that if his kids had lived in the United States, he would have let them use the under-13 experience.
When Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida asked Shou Chew whether ByteDance, the app’s parent company, had ever spied on Americans at the behest of CCP, the CEO denied the claim.
In America alone, TikTok has over 150 million users. Following Thursday’s proceedings, everyone is waiting to see if Joe Biden’s administration follows India’s footsteps by putting a nationwide complete ban on the popular app.
Back in November 2022, during a televised interview with The New York Times, Chew also added that minor safety is taken seriously by his team, adding:
"One of the first things I did when I took on this role was to make sure that minor safety was at the top of the list."Prior to his appearance before Congress on Thursday, Chew shared a video from TikTok’s main account on the platform itself and asked American users to let him know in the comments about the things they love about the app so that he can convey those messages and points to the elected representatives, adding:
“I’ll be testifying before Congress this week to share all that we’re doing to protect Americans using the app and deliver on our mission to inspire creativity and to bring joy.”The CEO further spoke about Project Texas, which is an unprecedented initiative to safeguard both American national security interests and the country's user data. The initiative was taken to address key issues of corporate governance, data security, system access, content moderation, and recommendation.
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