TikTok CEO fails to convince Congress that the app is not a “weapon” for ChinaPassing a data privacy bill is "the only way to stop TikTok," committee says.
Washington,
March 23, 2023
... Rick Allen (R-Ga.) pointedly said that Chew gave him “no reason to believe” that TikTok would comply with any American orders that conflict with what the CCP wants. Although Chew continually denied that the CCP controlled TikTok—while remaining vague on many other questions—Diana Harshbarger (R-Tenn.) said it was clear to her that “ByteDance puts China first and America last.” Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) told Chew that because the WSJ report said that China’s commerce minister has confirmed that China could block a sale of TikTok, “all of what you've been saying about the distance between TikTok and China has been said to be not true.” There were many questions that Chew failed to answer, promising instead to follow up. Committee members were given 10 business days to submit written questions to TikTok. Outstanding questions covered everything from how (and to whom) TikTok sells user data, to how much TikTok revenue ByteDance retains and how many tech resources are shared between TikTok and other ByteDance-owned companies. In his written testimony that was prepared ahead of the hearing, Chew maintained that “ByteDance is not an agent of China” and made four promises to both Congress and to American TikTok users. He vowed to keep user safety as a top priority, to prevent unauthorized foreign access to American user data, to prevent any government from manipulating TikTok content, and to be transparent and accountable for all these promises by giving access to independent third-party monitors to review changes in TikTok code. But after Chew provided his first testimony ever to Congress, Marc Veasey (D-Texas) told Chew that he considered TikTok’s assurances “worthless.” Perhaps Russ Fulcher (R-Idaho) summed up the disappointing hearing best when he told Chew, “This hasn’t been a fun day” for TikTok or for Congress. TikTok did not respond to Ars’ request for comment on the hearing. |
