TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified earlier than Congress on Thursday amid rising issues over the app‘s future within the US. Lawmakers grilled Chew for greater than 5 hours however the issues largely remained unanswered. The TikTok government repeated statements from his written testimony saying that the video-based social media platform or its Chinese language guardian firm ByteDance doesn’t have any backdoors for China’s CCP (Chinese language Communist Occasion) 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 advised that CCP might acquire entry to the private information of American TikTok customers via ByteDance. In response, TikTok CEO, who said in his written testimony that “ByteDance shouldn’t be an agent of China,” pointed to Mission Texas.
Mission Texas is TikTok’s plan to maintain information of US customers inside the US. It has teamed up with Texas-based software program firm Oracle to safeguard the information within the latter’s servers. The info can be inaccessible to anybody outdoors the US. Anticipated to be accomplished later this 12 months, TikTok officers say this might do extra to guard American customers than an outright ban for the app. Nonetheless, the plan has been within the works for over a 12 months now and nothing has materialized. Unsurprisingly, lawmakers are shedding endurance and belief within the firm.
Through the listening to, committee members had been all skeptical of TikTok’s plan to handle America’s nationwide safety issues. Rodgers branded it a “advertising and marketing scheme,” whereas Consultant Frank Pallone stated, “Mission Texas is just not acceptable”. Consultant Angie Craig additionally echoed these sentiments saying that the plan “doesn’t move the odor take a look at”. These disagreements continued all through the almost six-hour showdown. Chew additionally pissed off 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 “world” 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 proper strategy to describe it,” Chew stated. “That is finally an inner investigation”. In fact, this assertion sparked sharp criticism. TikTok rapidly took to Twitter to level out that Chew firmly stated “no” when requested if it spied on behalf of the CCP.
Chew pointed to latest updates when requested about teen security
The TikTok CEO equally dodged many different advanced questions from Congress members, together with one concerning the interior workings of ByteDance and its China-based workers, Engadget studies. He was additionally pressed with questions on teen security. He was requested concerning the platform’s moderation practices and doubtlessly 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, expertise, 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 neglect every part it has realized about them and begin afresh, ought to they really feel unsafe with the content material they at the moment see within the algorithmic feed.
Nonetheless, none of this was sufficient to handle the lawmakers’ nationwide safety issues. Some have referred to as for a sale of TikTok within the US, although Chinese language officers have opposed the thought. Chew, in the meantime, stated: “We might want to have a look at this as a result of Mission Texas is designed to maneuver ahead right here in the US and we aren’t 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.