TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew fights for app's survival as lawmakers push for US ban

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew testifies before the US House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington. AFP

TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew on Thursday faced off with sceptical members of the US Congress who believe the app should receive a nationwide ban.

Mr Chew, fighting for the survival of the company in the country, had the task of trying to convince members of Congress that the app has never shared American users’ data with the Chinese government.

“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” he said in prepared opening remarks before the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chairwoman of the committee, led the questioning.

“We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values — values for freedom, human rights and innovation,” Ms McMorris Rodgers said at the top of the hearing. She added that China could use the app “as a tool to manipulate America as a whole”.

“TikTok has repeatedly chosen a path for more control, more surveillance, and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned.”

The ByteDance-owned app, which has 150 million users in the US, could be banned if its Chinese owners do not sell their stake in the company. A bipartisan bill granting President Joe Biden’s administration the authority to ban TikTok has received White House endorsement.

During his remarks, Mr Chew outlined commitments TikTok intends to make for users, including prioritising user safety, firewalling US data from unauthorised foreign access, ensuring the app is a platform for free expression and granting access to independent monitors.

In the days leading up to the hearing, TikTok and Mr Chew have sought to allay concerns over security and safety. The chief executive himself posted a video on the app explaining how it benefits small businesses.

Some in Congress oppose a ban on the app, however.

“Why the hysteria and the panic and the targeting of TikTok?” asked Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman at a news conference on Wednesday.

“Let’s do the right thing here — comprehensive social media reform as it relates to privacy and security.”

Meanwhile, TikTok revamped its community guidelines and published a “Myth vs Fact” sheet countering claims that its parent company is owned by China, Punchbowl News reported.

TikTok has also been trying to avoid a ban by touting Project Texas, which Mr Chew says is an “unprecedented initiative dedicated to safeguarding both US user data and US national security interests”.

The project is designed to route US data to domestic servers maintained by Oracle. It would be managed by employees through TikTok US Data Security, an entity independent of ByteDance that employs 1,500 people.

Ms McMorris Rodgers dismissed Project Texas as a marketing scheme.

“TickTok is a grave threat of foreign influence in American life,” she said.

The app has already been banned on federal government devices for members of Congress and the military. Nearly half of US states have also banned the app on government devices.

Other western governments, including the EU and Canada, as well as New Zealand, have already banned TikTok. The UK has also announced a ban on the app for government devices.