TikTok CEO Grilled by Congress as Republicans and Democrats Show United Front Against Chinese-Owned App

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was in the hot seat as House representatives from both major parties piled onto him as they grilled him on whether the Chinese-owned app can protect American privacy.

Lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have expressed deep skepticism about TikTok's attempts to protect user data in the U.S. amid reports that data is still being sent back to its parent company's servers in Beijing.

According to CNN, this was a rare chance for the public to finally hear from the TikTok CEO, whose company has been facing massive scrutiny over the app's security concerns. Several state and local governments, both red and blue states, have already banned the app from all government devices. Several big-name politicians like Pres. Joe Biden gave the app an ultimatum, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called for it to be banned entirely.

Chew stressed that his company has independence from China and even pointed out that it has more U.S. ties.

"TikTok itself is not available in mainland China, we're headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we have 7,000 employees in the U.S. today," he told Congress.

Chew defended his company but acknowledged that there is "potential for unwanted foreign access to U.S. data and potential manipulation of the TikTok U.S. ecosystem." He added that the company's approach had never been to dismiss any of these concerns and stated that they are addressing them with real action.

Engineers from TikTok Parent Company in China Have Access to U.S. Data

TikTok's parent company is ByteDance, which must comply with laws set up by the Chinese Communist Party that they must hand over all its data.

During the hearing, this fact was pointed out as lawmakers were grilling Chew. He admitted that engineers from ByteDance back in China have access to U.S. data.

"We rely on global interoperability, Chinese engineers have access to data," he said.

Lawmakers then zeroed in on this, as it is hard to see how the Chinese government could not also access it, according to the BBC.

The TikTok CEO did mention "Project Texas," which was the company's attempt to answer security concerns. It will store all data in the U.S. under the watch of American firm Oracle, but it is still not operational, which means U.S. user data is still being sent back to China.

Lawmakers Still Skeptical After TikTok CEO Testimony During Hearing

After five hours of grilling, Chew did not seem to quell any of the lawmakers' concerns about security and data being given to the Chinese government, according to CNBC.

"I've not been reassured by anything you've said so far and I think quite frankly your testimony has raised more questions for me than answers," said Delaware Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, a Democrat.

Chew stressed that much like American social media apps like Facebook and Twitter, TikTok also gets data as its business practice, and this does not make them any different. However, it was pointed out that the difference is that the data may be used by a foreign government to influence U.S. citizens.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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