The CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, assured this Thursday that the company that owns the application “is not an agent of China or any other country”testifying before a US congressional committee made up of Republican and Democratic lawmakers who fear Beijing will use the platform for spying or propaganda.
Belonging to the Chinese company ByteDanceTikTok is under enormous pressure in Western countries: several of which – the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, the Netherlands and Denmark, among others – have banned their officials from using it and have been forced to remove the application from their devices.
The British broadcaster BBC this week advised its staff to remove TikTok from their phones.
The CEO of TikTok assured in the US Congress that the application “is not a Chinese agent”
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The most serious threat comes from the United States, whose government has issued an ultimatum for TikTok to be removed from Chinese ownership or face an outright ban in the country.
A ban would be an unprecedented act against a media company by Washington, since it would deprive 150 million monthly users in the country of an application that has already become – especially for young people – the main source of entertainment after Netflix.
Chew said that “what is needed are clear and transparent rules that apply broadly to all technology companies: ownership is not at the core of addressing these concerns,” added.
“ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” said the manager, a 40-year-old Singaporean under questioning by lawmakers who turned their guns on the app.
“TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path of more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Their platform should be banned,” said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chair of the House Committee on Commerce and Energy, at the beginning of the hearing.
“The Chinese Communist Party can collect sensitive information (from US TikTok users) and control what we ultimately see, hear and believe,” added the Republican lawmaker.
In a particularly awkward moment, Chew acknowledged that some Americans’ personal data was still subject to Chinese law, but insisted that would soon change.
The congressmen also confronted the manager with examples of young users who promote suicide or dangerous exercises that have been fatal, a phenomenon that -however- is repeated on Instagram, Twitter, and other platforms.
“Your technology is literally leading to death”said Congressman Gus Bilirakis, pointing to a family in the audience whose son was killed in a rail tragedy that relatives say was related to TikTok.
Before the hearing, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said it would “strongly oppose” a forced sale, stressing that any sale or spin-off of TikTok would require the approval of Chinese authorities.
“Forcing the sale of TikTok (…) will seriously undermine the confidence of investors from various countries, including China, to invest in the United States,” added Shu Jueting, a spokesman for the aforementioned portfolio.
A sale of the app, even with the agreement of all parties, would be very difficult, as separating the powerful algorithm from “TikTok and ByteDance would be like a conjoined twin operation,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told the news agency. AFP.
On Wednesday, a dozen teenagers, teachers and business owners addressed Congress to voice their opposition to a ban on the app and highlighted the benefits of TikTok to their lives and livelihoods.
Chew promotes a company plan, known as Texas Projectto satisfy national security concerns, under which the handling of user data on US soil would be limited to a US-led division.