Is TikTok banned? CEO testifies on social networking situation in the US

This Thursday morning (23), TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the United States Congress as the country decided on a possible general ban on the social network.

With pointed questions about tracking and selling data, as well as sharing it with the Chinese government, At the Chamber’s Energy and Commerce Commission, the executive argued that TikTok is a place for freedom of expression, but without disregarding the safety of young people in the first place..

A concern highlighted by members of Congress, Possible sharing of TikTok user data with the Chinese government, including the Communist Party of China. Additionally, concerns were raised about the social network’s safety and its impact on the mental health of young users. Chew gave the following answers to the issues:

• that TikTok is a private company, not a government company;

• The data of US citizens is recorded locally by a subsidiary called TikTok US Data Security, which was announced in May 2022;

• This American data is “stored on the service by default” [de nuvem] from “Oracle” on servers in Virginia and Singapore;

• TikTok never shares US user data with the Chinese government;

• TikTok has implemented security measures to protect young people on the network;

• TikTok will delete US user data from its servers in 2023.

“Once this is done, all US-protected data will be protected by local law and under the control of the US-led security team. This removes any concern that some of you have shared with me about TikTok user data that may be subject to Chinese law,” Chew said.

In response to Cathy McMorris Rodgers of the Republican Party, Chew reiterates that TikTok is “a free speech space”“, but was not pretentious in denying whether the company shared user data directly with the Chinese government or with ByteDance officials affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party. It later claimed that the network did not share user data with China.

Sensitive content control

Regarding whether the company has the ability to “spy on Americans”, he said TikTok is committed to “protecting the privacy” of citizens. When asked by Frank Pallone of the Democratic Party if TikTok sells user data, Chew stated that the company “does not sell data to data brokers.” While the CEO insisted on this, he was evasive about whether the social network was selling data to “everyone”.

“We believe we collect more data than any other company,” said Shou Chew, TikTok CEO.

During her testimony, congresswoman Kat Cammack from Florida showed a video posted on the social network where a user showed an animation of a gun and mentioned in the caption that she would be there during her statement. “This video was posted 41 days ago and continues to be posted,” the representative said. But Chew had no right to reply.

Congressman Gus Bilirakis played videos of teenagers talking about suicide and in some cases tying the act to jokes. He also apologized to existing viewers, stating that the company could destroy the lives of families by delivering such content to its users.

Bilirakis, who Chew circumvented, asked, “Do you take responsibility for the algorithm TikTok uses to deliver content to its users?” asked.