TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew defended himself as best he could Thursday against Republican and Democratic US congressmen who accuse this platform – threatened with ban in the United States – of alleged ties to the Chinese government.
The 40-year-old Singaporean underwent unusually intense questioning by lawmakers who fear Beijing could use this subsidiary of the Chinese group ByteDance to spy on, gather data and secretly advocate plans for the Chinese Communist Party.
The former Harvard-trained banker tried in vain for hours to defuse an existential threat to TikTok. The app tries to survive an ultimatum from the White House, which demands that ByteDance sell the app to avoid being banned in the United States.
At the House Commerce and Energy Committee session, members of Congress gave Chew no respite, often denying him the chance to elaborate on his responses or promote the site’s global popularity among young people.
“ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government and is a private company,” Chew told congressmen.
(You can read: Who is Shou Zi Chew, the enigmatic CEO of TikTok?)
“We believe that what is needed are clear and transparent rules that apply broadly to all technology companies – ownership is not the basis for addressing these concerns,” Chew added.
A ban would be an unprecedented act for a media company in the United States and it would leave 150 million monthly users in the country without access to it, especially young people.
“TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path of more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Their platform should be banned,” committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said at the start of the hearing.
The 150 million users in the country are Americans about whom the Chinese Communist Party “can collect confidential information and control what we ultimately see, hear and believe,” added the Republican.
At one point Chew was forced to acknowledge that some Americans’ personal data was still subject to Chinese law, but he insisted that this would soon change.
(Further: UK bans TikTok ‘with immediate effect’ on government phones)
Congressmen also confronted Chew with dire examples of young users promoting suicide or dangerous stunts. that have caused deaths. “Their technology is literally leading to death,” said Congressman Gus Bilirakis, pointing to a family who blames
TikTok of the death of his son in a railway tragedy.
China’s response
Before the hearing, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce stated that it would “strongly oppose” a forced sale, stressing that any agreement or division of
TikTok would require approval from the Chinese authorities.
“Forcing the sale of TikTok…will seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China, to invest in the United States,” spokesman Shu Jueting added.
(You can read: The law with which the US could ban TikTok on the country’s devices)
TikTok is under the scrutiny of several laws, including a White House-backed bill that paves the way to ban the app.
On Wednesday around a dozen people demonstrated in front of Congress to express their opposition to the possible ban. “Are there other platforms? Absolutely, I’m on them. But none of them have the reach of
TikTok,” @countrylather2020 told her 70,000 followers in a video recorded after her arrival in Washington.
Defenders of freedom of expression also protest. “Bashing TikTok, and by extension Americans’ First Amendment protections, is not the right solution to the risks TikTok poses to American privacy and to America’s national security,” Nadine said. Farid Johnson, of PEN America, who defends freedom of expression, protected by that amendment.
TikTok hopes to appease the authorities. Chew promoted a plan devised by the company, known as Project Texas, to satisfy national security concerns, according to which the handling of data from the United States would be carried out by a division directed from this country.
Congressmen doubt its effectiveness and believe that it does not prevent TikTok from being vulnerable to China. “TikTok must be an American company with American values and end all ties to the Chinese Communist Party,” said Democrat Darren Soto.
But while this hearing in Congress was taking place in the United States, the British and Scottish parliaments also advanced this Thursday to ban this application.
Both entities confirmed that they are going to ban TikTok on all cell phones of officials for security reasons.
(You may be interested in: TikTok: Western pressure against the Chinese application)
A Westminster spokesman confirmed that following the decision taken a few days ago by Downing Street – the seat of the British Government – to veto this social network from government mobiles, “The Houses of Commons (Lower) and Lords (Upper) committees have decided that TikTok will be blocked from Parliamentary devices and the wider Parliament network.”.
*With information from AFP
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