Shou Chew

US lawmakers are set to grill TikTok's chief executive on Thursday, in a wide-ranging hearing that could not come at a more consequential moment for the ...

His written testimony also outlines TikTok’s moves to keep users safe with content moderation, highlighting that the company spent $1 billion in 2021 on trust and safety and reflecting TikTok’s largest US labor expense. TikTok was the top downloaded app in the United States in 2021 and 2022, according to data from analytics firm Sensor Tower. His overarching message: TikTok has become essential to American culture, and to the creators and small business owners who now rely on the app for their livelihoods. TikTok flew out some of the creators, the company confirmed to CNN. Chew, who is from Singapore, will testify on “TikTok’s consumer privacy and data security practices, the platforms’ impact on kids, and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party,” according to a statement last week from committee. [perceived national security](http://www.cnn.com/2023/03/21/tech/tiktok-national-security-concerns/index.html) concerns because of its ties to China through its parent company, ByteDance.

TikTok is owned by the Chinese internet giant ByteDance, which has prompted concerns that the app could share sensitive data from American users with the ...

Mr. During business school, Mr. Chew has been on a global charm offensive](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/26/technology/tiktok-bytedance-data-security.html) to try to convince governments that TikTok protects the privacy of users and is not influenced by China’s communist leaders. Chew was asked to bring financial discipline to the company and to map out a path to profitability. He studied economics at the University College London. And he has emphasized that he lives in Singapore with his wife and two children.

Both Republicans and Democrats expressed deep skepticism that the company won't share U.S. user data with the Chinese government while questioning Chew.

Lawmakers went on to reprimand the CEO over the safety of children, misinformation and targeted advertising. "You have repeatedly used the word transparency throughout this hearing," Palmer said. Chew admitted on Thursday that until Project Texas is complete, Beijing-based employees of TikTok would still be able to access U.S. They also said the app promotes misinformation like antivaccine advice and voter suppression campaigns. But, under the restructuring, the digital firewall would prevent Chinese employees from having access to Americans' personal information. The Biden administration told TikTok earlier this month that if its Chinese owners didn't sell their stakes in the app to a U.S. During the hearing, Chew was grilled about whether the app shares data with the Chinese government. Chew said TikTok does not promote or remove content at the request of Chinese authorities. They fear China's authoritarian regime could use the app to spy on, or blackmail, the millions of Americans who use it every day. TikTok offered an alternative it's currently working on, called "Project Texas." In this scenario, the Chinese government couldn't access the data and it would be overseen by Oracle. journalists who were reporting on company leaks — an incident now being investigated by Justice Department, [according to Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilybaker-white/2023/03/16/fbi-doj-investigating-bytedance-tiktok-surveillance-journalists/).

Chew is testifying before Congress Thursday to encourage lawmakers not to ban the app from the U.S. over national security concerns.

[Meta](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/meta) Platforms [Mark Zuckerberg](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/mark-zuckerberg) who is reported to have a net worth of more than $70 billion. Chew has a rich business background and launched his career at Goldman Sachs in the U.K. amid national security fears, but the 40-year-old Singaporean native takes a different stance in his household—he doesn't allow his kids to use [TikTok](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/tiktok). My kids live in Singapore and in Singapore, we do not have the under-13 experience. [Congress](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/congress) Thursday. Legislators have long voiced concerns that the [app is a national security threat](https://www.newsweek.com/majority-americans-believe-tiktok-poses-risk-national-security-1784097), alleging that it is potentially [providing the Chinese Communist Party with data](https://www.newsweek.com/tiktok-owned-controlled-china-communist-party-ccp-influence-1752415) on millions of Americans, including their whereabouts, and increasing their access to disinformation. He cited his family life as a reason why data protection is so important, especially for children. [Elon Musk](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/elon-musk), the [Tesla](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/tesla) CEO who bought Chew met his Taiwanese-American wife Vivian Kao while both were attending Harvard. The Guardian reported that Chew is fluent in Mandarin and English and serves his country as a reservist in the Singaporean army. If they lived here in the United States, I would let them use the under-13 experience." - Shou Zi Chew is the CEO of TikTok and is testifying before Congress on why the app should not be banned.

Tiktok CEO Shou Chew is expected to testify before Congress on Thursday as lawmakers scrutinize its China ties and its potential national security risks, ...

Members on the panel have hammered away at TikTok's ties to China and disregarded CEO Shou Chew's on-record, under-oath claims that TikTok is not an arm of the Chinese government. Lawmakers are almost universally hostile toward TikTok, and not buying what the company is selling. The House committee is back from its recess. Chew tried to explain that breakdown to Cárdenas but the response was received as evasion. Tony Cardenas is next. A lot of your answers are a bit nebulous; they're not yes or no." a good dancer with words' Cárdenas: 'You remind me a lot of Mark Zuckerberg… "That I can give you a straight answer on," he said. "There are certain members of our industry who do this," he said. Debbie Dingell, he could not commit that the company would never sell user data. He noted that it has been prohibited for use by US Embassy contractors and third party vendors.

Tiktok CEO Shou Chew is expected to testify before Congress on Thursday as lawmakers scrutinize its China ties and its potential national security risks, ...

What you’re doing down in Texas is all well and good, but it is not enough to be convinced that our privacy is not at risk." Such a law would govern all businesses' handling of American data in the United States, covering not just TikTok but also other social media companies, data brokers and more. "My constituents are concerned that TikTok and the Chinese Communist Party are controlling their data and seeing our own vulnerabilities….

Tiktok CEO Shou Chew is expected to testify before Congress on Thursday as lawmakers scrutinize its China ties and its potential national security risks, ...

Plus, we dive into what we actually know about the privacy concerns surrounding TikTok and if a nationwide ban is possible. The special will look at the national security concerns for TikTok as well as the popular app's impacts on younger users — and the efforts of lawmakers and schools to address these issues. In February, college student and founder of the Log Off Movement, Emma Lembke, testified in front of a Senate committee about the impact that social media companies have on youth mental health. Such a law would govern all businesses' handling of American data in the United States, covering not just TikTok but also other social media companies, data brokers and more. and TikTok, and why cybersecurity needs to be a collaborative effort. What you’re doing down in Texas is all well and good, but it is not enough to be convinced that our privacy is not at risk." “And that's one of the issues here again, these legislators should be thinking more broadly across the entire social media spectrum,” Swisher said. “It's very upsetting for a lot of us, because we rely on these spaces to talk about issues that really matter to us. “It will help a lot of other social media sites, primarily Facebook.” “And I think that it's a really great source for information that a lot of people turn to, and it's where we build a lot of community and gathering.” TikTok creator Hannah Williams told CNN that she built her business through the app, and now makes some $200,000 a year. "So we can't ignore it just because of concerns about alienating some teenagers on this app."

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew House Testimony Recap: It's unlikely to ease the bipartisan pressure on Biden to ban the Chinese-owned app.

[data-collection practices](https://www.forbes.com/sites/emilsayegh/2022/11/09/tiktok-users-are-bleeding-data/?sh=3d33fe6f6a2f) and potential [national-security concerns](https://www.npr.org/2022/11/17/1137155540/fbi-tiktok-national-security-concerns-china) regarding the app’s alleged connection to the Chinese government. Pallone referred to the “information superhighway” right out of the gate. But he was not able to answer a question from Pallone on TikTok’s [controversial data harvesting](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/19/tiktok-has-been-accused-of-aggressive-data-harvesting-is-your-information-at-risk): The top Democrat on the committee, Frank Pallone, concurred. And Richard Hudson had some basic questions about Wi-Fi access: But that wasn’t the dynamic on Thursday.