By Turki Al Mutairi | Contributing Writer
On Thursday 23 March, the CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, was questioned by US legislators about the platform’s alleged ties to China and the detrimental effects that its brief videos have on young people’s mental health. This demonstrates the concern from both the Democratic and Republican parties about the app’s influence over American users. ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok which is based in China, has raised concerns in the US. CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony before Congress did hardly anything to allay those worries and instead bolstered efforts by lawmakers to ban the platform nationwide.
Throughout the five-hour testimony, Chew remained steadfast that the app did not share data or have any connections to the Chinese government. He also affirmed that the platform is implementing all appropriate steps to guarantee the security of its 150 million American users.
None of the lawmakers supported TikTok, noting Chew’s answers regarding China as being unclear and expressing concern over the app’s impact on American kids. Some have also claimed that TikTok promotes content that encourages eating disorders, helps in the sale of illegal drugs, and promotes sexual abuse.
Chew began his testimony by referring to his Singaporean roots and stated, “We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government.” Chew stated that the problems were “complex” and not particular to TikTok in reply to multiple pointed questions. He continued, “It is our pledge to this committee and all of our users that we will prevent any government interference with TikTok.” He also stated that the software strictly filters out material that can be harmful to youngsters.
When questioned about a potential divestment, Chew responded that the problem was “it’s not about the ownership,” adding, ” American social companies don’t have a good track record with data privacy and user security. I mean, look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.” Chew suggested that US concerns could be allayed by shifting data to its US storage facilities. Chew added that TikTok has been working on developing a firewall for more than two years to prevent unauthorized foreign access to protected user data in the US.
Tony Cardenas, a Democratic senator from California, criticized Chew for avoiding tough questions about the proof that the app has impacted children’s mental health and called Chew a “good dancer with words.” To minimize such content, Chew stated that the company was investing in content moderation and artificial intelligence.
Representative Gus Bilirakis from Florida presented the committee with a selection of short TikTok videos that seemed to promote self-harm and suicide, or openly advise viewers to commit suicide. Bilirakis commented, “Your technology is literally leading to death.” We need to protect our kids from large tech companies like yours that continue to exploit and use them for self-gain. The topic of suicide, as well as self-harm, is one that TikTok takes “very, very seriously,” Chew said to Bilirakis.
After the hearing, it’s unclear how Congress will move forward or how fast they might adopt measures to bolster the Biden administration’s legal authority to ban TikTok.