For almost 5 hours, Congress members of the Home Committee on Power & Commerce grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over issues in regards to the platform’s dangers to minor security, information privateness, and nationwide safety for American customers.
“The American folks want the reality in regards to the menace TikTok poses to our nationwide and private safety,” committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wa.) mentioned in her opening assertion, concluding that “TikTok is a weapon.”
Rodgers recommended that even for People who’ve by no means used the app, “TikTok surveils us all, and the Chinese language Communist Get together (CCP) is ready to use this as a instrument to control America as an entire.”
In his testimony, Chew defended TikTok’s $1.5 billion resolution to those issues, Challenge Texas, as a extra applicable measure than forcing a sale of TikTok from its proprietor, China-controlled ByteDance, or banning TikTok within the US. Chew mentioned that with Challenge Texas, TikTok has launched an “unprecedented” effort to be extra clear about its algorithm and information assortment than every other huge tech firm.
“American corporations don’t have a very good monitor report with information privateness,” Chew reminded the committee whereas repeatedly telling Congress members that the questions that they’d about TikTok mirrored industry-wide issues that go effectively past one app.
Chew additionally mentioned that he’s seen “no proof” that Challenge Texas—which he mentioned would guarantee TikTok information is behind a US firewall and out of China’s attain—doesn’t deal with Congress’ nationwide safety issues. Nonetheless, he refused to touch upon a whistleblower report from Tech Employees Coalition, the place a TikTok content material moderator confirmed certainly one of Congress’ worst suspicions: that ByteDance has entry to person information that may very well be used to trace and spy on People.
However Congress members like Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.)—who mentioned he has extra in depth expertise with Web applied sciences than a lot of his committee colleagues—led a swarm of Congress members disputing that Challenge Texas was the cure-all that Chew claimed. Obernolte mentioned that, in his opinion, it was not “technically potential” for Challenge Texas to maintain American person information out of China’s attain. Not solely may nefarious actors working inside Challenge Texas doubtlessly entry person information for China, but in addition there are issues that if TikTok just isn’t totally clear about its information gross sales, China may doubtlessly buy US person information.
As a result of The Wall Road Journal reported that China has said that it’ll act to cease the pressured sale of TikTok, Chew was pressed on how concerned China—and the CCP—may be in TikTok operations and whether or not he thought China had the ability to cease a sale. Chew didn’t straight deny that China may step in.
After being known as “evasive” throughout his testimony by a number of committee members, Chew shared some insights into TikTok-China connections, confirming that he straight stories to China-owned ByteDance’s CEO Liang Rubo and affirming that he personally owns shares in ByteDance. Though Chew mentioned that ByteDance doesn’t require that staff disclose this data, he additionally appeared to agree that it’s probably that many ByteDance staff are CCP members.
Issues obtained private for Chew—who lives in Singapore, not China—when Congress members pressured him to reveal his personal connections to the CCP, which he repeatedly evaded. He reminded the committee that his testimony was solely about TikTok. He additionally constantly resisted responding to a number of committee members asking if he condemned Chinese language human rights abuses in opposition to a Turkish ethnic minority in China, the Uyghurs.
“You’ve completely tied your self in knots to keep away from criticizing CCP’s remedy of Uyghurs,” Kelly Armstrong (R-ND) advised Chew.
Nothing that Chew mentioned appeared to weaken the bipartisan united entrance in opposition to TikTok that was offered by committee members.
Rick Allen (R-Ga.) pointedly mentioned that Chew gave him “no motive to consider” that TikTok would adjust to any American orders that battle with what the CCP desires. Though Chew regularly denied that the CCP managed TikTok—whereas remaining obscure on many different questions—Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) mentioned it was clear to her that “ByteDance places China first and America final.” Jan Schakowsky (D-Ailing.) advised Chew that as a result of the WSJ report mentioned that China’s commerce minister has confirmed that China may block a sale of TikTok, “all of what you have been saying in regards to the distance between TikTok and China has been mentioned to be not true.”
There have been many questions that Chew didn’t reply, promising as a substitute to comply with up. Committee members got 10 enterprise days to submit written inquiries to TikTok. Excellent questions coated the whole lot from how (and to whom) TikTok sells person information, to how a lot TikTok income ByteDance retains, and what number of tech sources are shared between TikTok and different ByteDance-owned corporations.
In his written testimony that was ready forward of the listening to, Chew maintained that “ByteDance just isn’t an agent of China” and made 4 guarantees to each Congress and to American TikTok customers. He vowed to maintain person security as a prime precedence, to stop unauthorized overseas entry to American person information, to stop any authorities from manipulating TikTok content material, and to be clear and accountable for all these guarantees by giving entry to impartial third-party displays to assessment adjustments in TikTok code.
However after Chew supplied his first testimony ever to Congress, Marc Veasey (D-Texas) advised Chew that he thought-about TikTok’s assurances “nugatory.”
Maybe Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) summed up the disappointing listening to greatest when he advised Chew, “This hasn’t been a enjoyable day” for TikTok or for Congress.
TikTok didn’t reply to Ars’ request for touch upon the listening to.
