The CEO of TikTok will be questioned on Capitol Hill as a growing number of US legislators push for the app to be banned on national security concerns.
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee will interview CEO Shou Zi Chew about TikTok’s customer privacy and data security standards, the platforms’ impact on children, and their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, according to a Monday statement.
TikTok Under Intense, Politicized Criticism
The hearing on March 23 will be Chew’s first time testifying on Capitol Hill. Committee chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) stated in a statement that ByteDance-owned TikTok had intentionally allowed the Chinese Communist Party to obtain American customer data.
Rodgers said that Americans have a right to know how these acts affect their privacy and data security, as well as what TikTok is doing to protect our children from online and offline dangers.
TikTok acknowledged that Chew will testify, but refuted Rodgers’ assessment of its business. Despite several claims to the contrary, the firm has consistently denied that ByteDance workers may access US data.
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Bipartisan Investigation
Rep. McMorris Rodgers’ claim that TikTok provided Chinese Communist Party access to U.S. user data is untrue, according to a statement from the firm. ByteDance and TikTok are not controlled directly or indirectly by the Chinese Communist Party.
TikTok has been subject to significant bipartisan investigation due to its parent company’s ties to Beijing and suspicions that the Chinese government has access to the private data of American users. Concerns have also been raised over the app’s effect on the mental health of young users, according to critics.
With over 100 million users in the United States alone, TikTok is one of the most popular apps in the world. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), an ardent critic of Big Tech companies, announced earlier this month his intention to file legislation to ban TikTok in the United States.
The senator labeled the app as China’s backdoor into the lives of Americans and stated that it poses a threat to our children’s privacy and mental health. In December, US lawmakers passed a bipartisan funding package that prohibited the download and use of TikTok on government-owned devices.
The provision included limited exclusions for law enforcement, national security, and scientific purposes. Republican FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has also advocated for a ban on TikTok, despite the agency’s lack of regulatory authority over the application.
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