Hearing in the US Congress: Not an easy position for TikTok

For TikTok boss Chew it is about the existence of his company in the USA. Accordingly, he tried to dispel concerns about Chinese espionage and influence in the US Congress – and met with cross-party opposition.

Something like this rarely happens in political Washington: that a witness who is to be “grilled” before the US Congress on tricky questions turns to the public in advance with a video message. But Shou Zi Chew is not just any top manager, he is the head of the video platform TikTok – and he is trying to avert a complete ban on the short video platform, which is particularly popular with young people, in the USA.

He came to Washington with news, Chew said. Immediately before the start of the meeting, he made four promises: among other things, that his company would protect data from the USA against unwanted access from abroad with a new firewall. And that TikTok remains a platform for free speech, without any government being able to exert any influence.

These commitments show that the CEO, who traveled from Singapore, had correctly assessed the direction of the survey because of possible data espionage.

No warm welcome for Chew

Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers greeted Chew, saying, “Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need to know the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security. TikTok, repeatedly, has a way voted for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation.”

Rodgers’ colleague on the Democratic side, Rep. Frank Pallone of New Jersey, was similarly clear at the beginning of the session: The Chinese communist government can force Beijing-based companies like TikTok to share data with Beijing, Pallone claimed. A nod to the fact that the video app is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.

“You will continue to collect data, you will continue to sell data and you will continue to be under the aegis of the Communist Party,” Pallone said. Numerous states have now banned TikTok from company cell phones because of a possible transfer of user data.

Chew: No manipulation by the Chinese government

Chew tried to refute the suspicion of espionage: “We do not promote or remove any content at the request of the Chinese government,” emphasized Chew. “We are committed to this committee and to all of our users that we will keep TikTok free from any government manipulation.” TikTok is not available in the Chinese market. The company headquarters are in the USA and Singapore.

For TikTok, the safety of its young users is a top priority, according to Chew. He dismissed allegations that the platform posed a threat to US national security. Data of American users would be stored and maintained on servers of the US group Oracle.

In Congress, 20 lawmakers and senators are backing a bipartisan initiative that would give the government the power to ban foreign technology if it threatens national security. This could clear a high hurdle for the TikTok ban that former US President Donald Trump failed to overcome in 2020.

Dangerous precedent?

Courts had overturned the ban imposed by decree because it curtailed the right to freedom of expression. According to experts, however, lawsuits must also be expected with a new law. “Restricting access to a platform used by millions of Americans every day would set a dangerous precedent for regulating our digital public in general,” warned Jameel Jaffer, chief of Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, which is committed to protecting it committed to freedom of speech.

There are also critics of the ban among Democratic members of Congress. Some of them joined a demonstration by TikTok influencers on Wednesday. According to experts, a ban on the app would harm the Democratic Party because it reaches young voters.