At his first Congressional listening to, TikTok CEO Shou Chew tried to downplay TikTok’s ties to China and mother or father firm ByteDance. But lawmakers at the House Energy and Commerce Committee have been removed from happy along with his solutions.
In her opening statements, committee chair Representative Cathy Rodgers mentioned that TikTok needs to be banned. “ByteDance is beholden to the CCP [Chinese Communist Party], and ByteDance and TikTok are one and the same,” she mentioned.
Chew, who in his written testimony mentioned that “ByteDance is not an agent of China” repeatedly pointed to Project Texas, the firm’s sweeping plan to lock down US customers’ information in the United States. But lawmakers on the committee have been skeptical of the plan, which TikTok officers have mentioned would do extra to shield customers than an outright ban.
Chew repeated a number of occasions that US person information can be inaccessible to workers in different nations “after Project Texas” is accomplished later this 12 months. Still, committee members have been skeptical of the plan, which has been in the works for greater than a 12 months. Rodgers known as it a “marketing scheme,” Representative Frank Pallone mentioned “Project Texas is simply not acceptable,” and Representative Angie Craig mentioned the plan “doesn’t pass the smell test.”
The greater than five-hour showdown between Chew and lawmakers, who’ve discovered suspicion of TikTok to be a uncommon supply of bipartisan settlement, comes as US officers have told the firm it might ban the app if it doesn’t separate itself from ByteDance.
As with earlier hearings with social media executives, lawmakers pressed Chew for sure or no solutions to complicated questions, and grew pissed off when he declined to give one. In one alternate, Representative Tony Cardenas requested Chew whether or not ByteDance was a Chinese firm. He would solely admit that it was a “global” agency with a Chinese founder. In one other, Representative Debbie Lesko requested if he would agree with a press release that the Chinese authorities persecutes the Uighur inhabitants in China. He would solely say that “it’s deeply concerning to hear about all the kinds of human rights abuse” and tried to pivot to saying these statements are allowed on TikTok.
And Chew dodged different questions about the internal workings of ByteDance and its China-based workers. He was sharply criticized for his response to a query about whether or not ByteDance workers had spied on American journalists. “I don’t think ‘spying’ is the right way to describe it,” Chew mentioned. “This is ultimately an internal investigation.” (TikTok was fast to level out Chew denied ‘spying’ had occurred at the course of the Chinese Communist Party.)
The listening to was additionally notably totally different than earlier hearings with different social media firm CEOs as a result of the overwhelming majority of lawmakers should not lively on TikTok. Not all of their questions have been nuanced, although. At one level, Representative Richard Hudson demanded to know whether or not TikTok can “access the home WiFi network.” And a number of lawmakers requested why TikTok’s moderation practices are totally different from the aggressive censorship of its Chinese counterpart, Douyin.
Beyond nationwide safety considerations, a number of lawmakers additionally raised the concern of teen safety, together with TikTok’s content material moderation practices and the way it offers with viral “challenges.” Chew typically pointed to latest updates like TikTok’d addition of a STEM-themed feed, new screentime settings and algorithm tweaks to restrict “repetitive patterns” of doubtless dangerous content material.
But, after greater than 5 hours of questioning, it appeared his testimony hadn’t achieved a lot to persuade the members of the committee that Project Texas shall be ready to deal with their considerations.
For now, TikTok’s future is unsure, and even Chew appeared unwilling to speculate. Chinese officers mentioned Thursday they oppose a sale of TikTok. When requested in the listening to if he agreed with these feedback, Chew as a substitute pointed to Project Texas.”We will need to look at this because Project Texas is designed to move forward here in the United States and we are not discussing this,” he mentioned.
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