TikTok, the popular short-form video app, has been under fire from US lawmakers for months over its alleged ties to China and its potential threat to national security. On Thursday, March 23, 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Chew made his first appearance before Congress to defend his company and address these concerns.
The hearing, which lasted for more than five hours, was tense and hostile, with lawmakers from both parties questioning Chew’s credibility and accusing him of being evasive and misleading. Chew tried to stress TikTok’s independence from China and its efforts to protect US user data and content moderation.
Here are some of the key points from the hearing:
- Lawmakers called for banning TikTok in the US. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, opened the hearing by telling Chew: “Your platform should be banned.” She said TikTok collects “nearly every data point imaginable” from users and could be used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to “manipulate America as a whole.” Other lawmakers echoed this sentiment and expressed doubt that TikTok could resist pressure from Beijing.
- Chew denied any influence from China. He said TikTok does not operate in mainland China, is headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, has 7,000 employees in the US, and stores US user data in Virginia and Singapore. He also said TikTok has never received a request from the CCP or any other foreign government to access or censor user data or content. He said TikTok would refuse such requests if they ever came.
- Lawmakers questioned TikTok’s transparency and accountability. They asked Chew about ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese parent company, which is subject to Chinese laws that could compel it to share data with authorities. They also asked about Oracle’s role as a “trusted technology partner” for TikTok in the US, which was part of a deal approved by former President Trump last year. They wanted to know how much control ByteDance and Oracle have over TikTok’s operations and decisions.
- Chew admitted some limitations on his authority. He said he reports directly to ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming but has autonomy over TikTok’s global business. He said he does not have access to ByteDance’s source code or algorithms but can audit them through third-party experts. He said he does not know how much equity ByteDance owns in TikTok but believes it is less than 50%. He said Oracle provides cloud services for TikTok but does not have access to user data.
- Lawmakers raised other issues beyond China. They asked Chew about how TikTok collects and uses personal information from users, especially minors who make up a large portion of its audience. They also asked about how TikTok moderates harmful content such as misinformation, hate speech, violence, self-harm, bullying, sexual exploitation and addiction.
- Chew highlighted TikTok’s policies and practices. He said TikTok has strict privacy settings for users under 18 years old that limit their exposure to strangers and advertisers. He also said TikTok has robust content moderation systems that rely on human reviewers and artificial intelligence (AI) tools. He said TikTok removes millions of videos every month for violating its community guidelines.
The hearing did not seem to resolve many of the lawmakers’ concerns or change their views on TikTok’s trustworthiness. It also did not address some of the broader industry-wide issues such as data privacy regulation or competition policy that affect other social media platforms as well.
TikTok faces an uncertain future in the US as it awaits a final decision from President Biden on whether it can continue operating or face a ban like former President Trump threatened last year.
