TikTok’s chief executive testified before a House committee for more than five hours, unifying lawmakers who expressed concerns with the popular app that ranged from national security to social responsibility.
Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled the CEO of TikTok on Thursday as multiple branches of the federal government have begun circling a crackdown on the popular social media platform over concerns about its ties to the Chinese Communist Party, among other issues.
TikTok’s Chief Executive Shou Chew testified before the committee for more than five hours on Thursday as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle launched long-winded critiques of the platform and its policies.
“You are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” said Rep. Cathy McMorris Rogers, Washington Republican and the committee’s chairwoman. “TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned.”
Lawmakers expressed a number of national security concerns while claiming that the Chinese government uses the app to spy on Americans and as a propaganda tool. Chew defended TikTok, saying that it and its parent company ByteDance are not controlled by the Chinese government while repeatedly referencing its mechanisms to protect users, especially teens. He also highlighted efforts to build a “firewall” against foreign access to U.S. data and an initiative called Project Texas to house data on U.S. soil. But he did not enjoy support from any lawmaker on the panel, members of which appeared unconvinced by Chew’s testimony and continued their crusade against the app in a stunning display of bipartisan strength on the issue.
In addition to national security concerns, lawmakers highlighted social concerns from misinformation to threats to young people like content that glorifies eating disorders and suicide. And by the hearing’s close, some lawmakers expressed becoming more worried based on what they had heard in the meeting than they had been to begin with, while accusing Chew of ducking behind industry standards that some said are insufficient.
“If this committee gets its way, TikTok’s time is up,” GOP Rep. Randy Weber of Texas said.
The hours-long hearing came after China said Thursday morning that it opposes the Biden administration’s reported request that Tik Tok’s parent company be forced to sell the app – or face a potential nationwide ban.
Former President Donald Trump made a similar attempt in 2020, issuing an executive order that effectively forced the company to divest of its U.S.-held assets, drawing on emergency economic powers. But no agreement was reached.
The testimony also came as reports that the Justice Department and the FBI are investigating TikTok’s parent company for surveilling American citizens, including journalists, began circulating last week.
Meanwhile, multiple efforts are underway in Congress to restrict or ban the app.
Earlier this month, a bipartisan group of senators, led by Virginia Democratic Sen. Mark Warner and Sen. John Thune, South Dakota Republican, introduced legislation that will give the secretary of commerce authority to take action against tech companies connected to foreign adversaries like TikTok, paving the way to a ban on the app. The House Foreign Affairs Committee also voted to advance a different bill earlier this month that would grant President Joe Biden the ability to ban the app by rolling back current protections.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, New York Democrat, told reporters on Wednesday that “there are serious security concerns with TikTok” that he shares, while adding that the Senate will “look at this very, very carefully.”
During Thursday’s hearing, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis called on members of Congress in a statement to stop using TikTok, which has already been banned from federal government devices. A number of lawmakers have personal TikTok accounts where they share details about upcoming legislation or other information with constituents.
Indeed, some lawmakers remain supportive of TikTok, like Rep. Jamaal Bowman, New York Democrat, who hosted a group of prominent TikTok creators for a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday. Others have pointed to the potential political repercussions for banning the app with more than 150 million users in the U.S., which is especially popular with young people who make up a key voting block for Democrats.
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