“A real and imminent threat”, “a technology that literally results in death”, “a weapon for spying”. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced a series of sharp questions and comments from US lawmakers in his appearance before the House of Representatives this Thursday, who are in favor of banning this social network, which they see as a threat to national security of the country for the benefit of minors.
Shou’s long-awaited appearance came as Congress was considering bills to ban the use of short videos, which are used by more than 150 million Americans — half the country’s population and the vast majority of them under the age of 35. Washington’s concerns about TikTok show a larger confrontation between China and the United States over the power of the technology and regulators’ control of the platforms. With his appearance, Shou tried to address the growing debate about banning the platform in the US.
During the hearing held at the Energy Committee, lawmakers repeatedly raised questions about security concerns raised by China’s subsidiary platform ByteDance. They are concerned that you might use their software to spy on US citizens; Last December, it was revealed that the social network’s staff had accessed the data of two journalists and their families as part of an internal investigation into an alleged leak, and the Justice Department is now investigating the case. They also fear the platform could share its American users’ data with the Chinese government and censor or direct their videos in a way that their content positively influences Beijing’s positions on issues like Taiwan. Finally, that it does not adequately protect its numerous users who are minors or suffer from mental health problems: 20% of its content is “misinformation” according to congressmen.
Shou Zi Chew, during his appearance in the US House of Representatives in Washington this ThursdayEVELYN HOCKSTEIN (Portal)
The company, which launched a PR campaign to present itself as a benevolent company that distributes entertainment content and takes precautions to protect its users, responds that it has invested more than $1,500 million in its development , what it is called the Texas Project, through which the American company Oracle will store the data of users in this country on US servers.
Shou assured that the company will shut down the data warehouses it previously had in the state of Virginia and Singapore. He stressed that “when the Texas project is fully operational,” engineers in China will not have access to US data. But he admitted it’s still possible in the meantime.
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The TikTok executive assured that the company is taking measures to prevent teens from being exposed to harmful content; As he recalled, mechanisms were put in place to reduce the time these young people spend in the application. In the face of these declarations, the legislator reminded him – as the young users themselves point out – that these are only “recommendations” and that these controls are easy to circumvent.
On other questions, such as the nationality of the parent company ByteDance or the sale of its data, he remained deliberately vague: “It’s a global company”, “we currently do not sell our data to intermediaries”. When asked about videos encouraging drug use and why this content is not shown in other countries where TikTok is established, such as Singapore, he stated that the social network works in “the reality of the country” in which it operates, and in Singapore the drug laws are “very strict”.
Some congressmen showed him videos available on the platform that encouraged harmful behavior; One of them threatened the committee chair herself, Republican Cathy McMorris Rodgers. “This is an outrageous display of how vulnerable TikTok users are,” said Florida Legislature Kat Cammack.
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If Shou came with a mission to convince congressmen of the company’s goodwill and send the message that any attempt to ban the social network would violate the First Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the right to free speech, he has it not understood. Lawmakers were already unconvinced, and over the course of the four-and-a-half hours, skepticism and anger at the CEO only seemed to grow. “You are one of the few people capable of uniting this committee,” said Democratic Congressman Tony Cárdenas, “we are all united in our distrust of TikTok.”
The businessman was also hampered by a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Commerce hours before the start of the hearing, in which he opposed a possible sale of the platform and assured that he would have the final say. “Forcing the sale of TikTok will seriously erode the confidence of investors around the world, including China, to invest in the United States. If the news is confirmed, China will be firmly opposed.” Several lawmakers alluded to the statement to link the social network to the Beijing government.
“TikTok collects virtually every type of data imaginable, from its users’ location to what they type and copy, who they talk to, biometrics and more,” Rodgers pointed out at the beginning of the hearing. “We don’t think TikTok will ever embrace American values, freedom, human rights and innovation,” he added.
Hostility towards the platform created by ByteDance has been growing since the days when the network simply aired short videos of dances and jokes. Transformed into a commercial center that generates extensive revenues from advertising and marketing — the company’s numbers aren’t public as it’s not publicly traded — and to which millions of Americans turn as their primary source of information, the suspicion in the political class of both signs has only grown exponentially as relations between Washington and Beijing deteriorated and transformed into two rival powers.
Shou Zi Chew before he begins his performance this Thursday. TASOS CATOPODIS (AFP/Getty)
The US government bans the social network in their end devices and computer systems. Last week, TikTok claimed to have received a notice from the Joe Biden administration recommending that it be spun off from ByteDance and sold to other non-Chinese owners in order to be allowed to continue its operations in the United States. In the House of Representatives, Republican lawmakers introduced a bill that would give Biden the power to shut down the platform. In the Senate, Democrat Mark Warner and Republican John Thune have tabled their own proposal, which is backed by the White House and lawmakers from both parties. This measure would give Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo the power to ban the social network.
It is not clear whether the US government would take this step. Three years ago, Republican Donald Trump’s administration raised this possibility, only to eventually rule it out. The Chinese owners would have to give the green light to a sale. Applying a ban would be complicated, both from a legal standpoint – Shou was alluding to America’s First Amendment – and from the reaction of very loyal users. The Democrats themselves have made this application one of their ways to try to connect with young voters.
“Why the hysteria and panic and attack on TikTok?” Democrat lawmaker Jamaal Bowman condemned at a news conference on Wednesday. “In this case, let’s do what’s right: comprehensive reform of social networks in terms of security and privacy.”
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