TikTok CEO Testimony Before Congress: Key Takeaways

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s first appearance in Congress lasted more than five hours, with heated questions about the app’s relationship with China and safeguards for its youngest users

It was a rare opportunity for the public to hear from the Chew, who gives few interviews. Despite this, his company’s app is one of the most popular in America, with over 150 million active users.

The following are the key takeaways from Thursday’s hearing.

TikTok’s CEO insists that its practices are no different than those of US tech behemoths

As congressmen pressed TikTok on its data collection practices, Chew emphasized that the data TikTok collects is “that’s frequently collected by many other companies in our industry.”

“We are committed to be very transparent with our users about what we collect,” Chew added. “I don’t believe what we collect is more than most players in the industry.”

The impact of TikTok on children is a major focus

Although the hearing’s main focus was anticipated to be on national security, several lawmakers also raised issues regarding TikTok’s effects on children.

TikTok was accused by Rep. Bob Latta, a Republican from Ohio, of promoting a video on the so-called «blackout challenge» or choking challenge to the feed of a 10-year-old girl from Pennsylvania, who later died after attempting to mimic the challenge in the video.

TikTok, on the other hand, has launched a number of features in recent months to provide additional safeguards for younger users, including a new 60-minute daily time limit for those under the age of 18. Even that feature, however, has been criticized by lawmakers as being too simple for teens to circumvent.

Questions regarding the viability of «Project Texas»

TikTok has pledged to relocate all US user data to domestic servers as part of Project Texas, a plan that would also allow US tech firm Oracle to scrutinize TikTok’s source code and act as a third-party monitor in order to allay concerns about Chinese influence.

The company has promised to complete the effort by the end of the year, but some lawmakers have questioned whether that is realistic given the hundreds of millions of lines of source code that must be reviewed in such a short period of time.

Uncertainty surrounds a possible ban

TikTok has already been blocked on federal government devices, and the Biden administration has threatened a national ban. Thursday’s hearing cast doubt on the app’s future in the United States, as members of the committee appeared unwavering in their belief that TikTok was a tool that could be used by the Chinese Communist Party. Their conviction was bolstered by a Wall Street Journal report, published just hours before the hearing, indicating that the Chinese government would not approve a TikTok sale.