TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew received a verbal slap in the face from the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday from a grieving father whose son took his own life after viewing suicidal content and broke down in tears.
At the start of the high-profile hearing, chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers launched an attack on Shou Zi Chew’s TikTok, telling the CEO: “We don’t trust TikTok to embrace American values.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew applauded: “Let me say this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent for China or any other country.”
“TikTok watches all of us, and the Chinese Communist Party can use this as a tool,” said Rodgers, R-Wash.
“Let me say this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew told the House Armed Services Committee hearing.
“Your platform should be banned,” Rodgers continued. “I hope you say anything today to avoid this outcome, but you are 100 percent responsible for anything TikTok does.”
“The facts show that the byte dance is indebted to the CCP,” Rodgers said.
Ranking Democratic Rep. Frank Pallone, DN.J., backed Rodgers’ attacks.
“I agree with most of what you said,” he told her.
Pallone, however, seemed less inclined to dismiss the Chinese video-sharing app entirely. He said that TikTok “threatens privacy and security… in its current form.”
Some committee members argued that TikTok is not moderating content enough.
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., charged that users did not have access to information on how to self-administer abortions and are seeing Covid-19 “misinformation” about hydroxychloroquine.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, played a compilation of TikToks featuring pro-suicide content. “His technology on him is literally leading to death,” he said.
Dean and Michelle Naska, whose son Chase allegedly killed himself after receiving unsolicited suicide videos on TikTok, were in the room. Dean broke down in tears when clips encouraging suicide were projected on the screen during the hearing.
Rep. Kat Cammack, a Florida Republican, showed a TikTok of someone unloading a gun and threatening the Energy and Commerce hearing. The video had been on the platform for 41 days, but was removed after Cammack played it at the hearing.
“He knows full well that he cannot protect the data and security of the committee or the 150 million users of his app because it is controlled by the CCP.”
At one point, Chew was asked if parent company ByteDance had spied on Americans at the behest of the CCP.
“I don’t think ‘spying’ is the correct way to describe it,” Chew replied.
“Welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress,” said Rep. Buddy Carter, Republican of Georgia. He asked Chew if China’s TikTok equivalent hosts “death challenge” videos aimed at children like the US version does.
Chew said he doesn’t know. “You heard the lady in the chair (about lying as a crime),” Carter said.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will spend a grueling 4.5 hours of questioning from a merchant who largely believes his app spews propaganda and poses a national security risk.
He began by denying any link between TikTok and the Chinese government.
“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent for China or any other country.”
The Singapore-born Chew made four promises to the press as he entered the courtroom: ‘We put security first. Firewall for US data, protecting against unwanted foreign access. Commitment to keep the application free. And fourth, committed to transparency.’
Pallone pressed Chew on whether he could commit to not selling data. “I think we don’t sell data to any data broker,” Chew said.
Asked for a solid commitment that the company wouldn’t and doesn’t, Chew said, “I can get you the details.”
At one point, Rep. Richard Hudson, RN.C. asked the CEO how much money they pay him. “I prefer to keep my compensation private,” he said.
Rodgers pressed Chew on reports that TikTok removes content at the request of the CCP.
Rep. Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, played a compilation of TikToks featuring pro-suicide content. “His technology on him is literally leading to death,” he said.
Dean and Michelle Nasca, whose son Chase allegedly committed suicide after receiving unsolicited suicide videos on TikTok, react as clips encouraging suicide were projected on the screen in the audience.
House Energy and Commerce President Cathy McMorris Rodgers launched an attack on Shou Zi Chew’s TikTok at the start of the high-profile hearing, telling the CEO: “We don’t trust TikTok to embrace American values.”
“Have moderation tools been used to remove content on TikTok associated with the Uyghur genocide?” she asked.
We don’t remove that kind of content. TikTok is a place of free speech,” Chew said.
He then asked if TikTok removes content related to the Tiananmen Square massacre. “That kind of content is on the platform,” Chew said.
“I will remind you that making false or misleading statements to Congress is a federal crime,” Rodgers said.
‘I understand,’ he said.
Rep. Debbie Lesko, an Arizona Republican, asked Chew three times in a row: “Do you agree that the Chinese government has persecuted the Uighur population?”
Chew declined to give a direct answer, saying he was only there to describe what TikTok does.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will spend a grueling 4.5 hours questioning a merchant who largely believes his app poses a national security risk.
“TikTok watches all of us and the Chinese Communist Party can use this as a tool,” said Rodgers, R-Wash.
Pallone asked Chew to pledge not to collect location or health data, but he evaded the question.
“The problem here is that you’re trying to give the impression that you’re going to walk away from Beijing, the Communist Party, but the compromises that we would seek to achieve those goals just haven’t been made,” Pallone told Chew.
Rodgers called for not only a ban on TikTok, but also a bigger data privacy bill.
“TikTok is a weapon of the Chinese Communist Party to spy on you, manipulate what you see and exploit it for future generations,” he said.
‘A ban is just a short-term way to tackle TikTok. And a data privacy bill is the only way to prevent (a) TikTok from happening again in the United States.”
During the hearing, Chew promoted The Texas Project, TikTok’s plan in the works to address US security and privacy concerns. But even Pallone called the Texas Project “unacceptable.”
Chew told the committee that employees of Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, are currently able to access US user data in China. He said that will be changed under the Texas Project.
Critics from both parties have raised concerns that it poses threats to national security and data privacy, since its parent company, ByteDance, is effectively controlled by the Chinese government.
The app has few supporters in Congress despite the fact that 150 million Americans regularly use the platform.
On Wednesday, three House Democrats, led by Rep. Jamaal Bowman, DN.Y., held a press conference defending TikTok and saying it poses no greater threat than any other social media company.
But even President Biden has backed the bipartisan RESTRICT Act, which would allow his Commerce Department to ban foreign technology companies and encourage the intelligence community to declassify surveillance-related findings.
A host of other bipartisan bills circulating could ban the app entirely.
“Let me say this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent for China or any other country,” Shou said.
People wearing ‘Ban TikTok’ shorts arrive before TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies
FBI Director Christopher Wray told Congress late last year that the Chinese government could use it to “control the data collection of millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which can be used for influence operations.”
He also warned that it could be used to hijack other software on the phone, potentially allowing it to collect and send more data.
In December, Biden signed a bipartisan bill to ban the app on government devices. His management has threatened to ban the app if the company’s Chinese owners don’t sell their stakes.
But on Thursday, China announced that it would oppose any forced sale of TikTok. China’s commerce secretary said a sale or divestment of TikTok would involve exporting technology and had to be approved by the Chinese government, according to the Wall Street Journal.
