TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew faced criticism from U.S. lawmakers about the platform’s potential Chinese influence and the app’s impact on children’s mental health, underscoring bipartisan concerns about the app’s power over Americans.
Chew’s testimony did little to calm US fears about TikTok’s China-based parent company ByteDance, adding new momentum to lawmakers’ calls for the platform’s nationwide ban. Over five hours of testimony, Chew repeatedly denied sharing data and having links with the Chinese Communist Party, arguing that the platform does everything possible to ensure the safety of its 150 million American users.
However, not a single lawmaker offered support for TikTok, as they deemed Chew’s answers on China evasive and aired concerns about the app’s power over children. Others accused the app of promoting content that encourages eating disorders, illegal drug sales and sexual exploitation among children.
The company said it has spent more than $1.5 billion on data security efforts under the name “Project Texas,” which currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees and is contracted with Oracle Corp to store TikTok’s US user data. But critics were not appeased as the company failed to announce any new efforts to safeguard privacy.
It is unclear how lawmakers will proceed after the hearing or how quickly they might move to pass legislation to strengthen the Biden administration’s legal powers to ban TikTok.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.