Lawmakers will question TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about the potential risk to US national security that the app maintains.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is due to appear before the US Congress in March to answer questions from lawmakers about the safety of North American users on the app.
The Committee on Energy and Commerce confirmed the hearing in a press release on Monday announcing that the TikTok boss would testify on March 23.
The CEO before the congressmen
Over the past few months there has been an even stronger crusade about TikTok ‘s impact on national security.
TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas testified before a congressional committee last September, but this upcoming hearing will mark the first time a company CEO has been brought to Capitol Hill for questioning.
“Big Tech has increasingly become a destructive force in American society. The Committee on Energy and Commerce has been at the forefront in asking CEOs, from Facebook to Twitter to Google, to account for the actions of their companies,” said Chairman Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
“These efforts will continue with TikTok . TikTok , owned by ByteDance, has knowingly allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access US user data,” he adds.
TikTok fights back
TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter told The Verge that the company welcomes “the opportunity to set the record straight about TikTok, ByteDance and the commitments we are making to address US national security concerns before the Committee. of Energy and Commerce of the Chamber”.
Oberwetter continued: “We hope that by sharing the details of our comprehensive plans with the full Committee, Congress can take a more deliberative approach to the issues at hand.”
“The Chinese Communist Party has no direct or indirect control of ByteDance or TikTok . Furthermore, under the proposal we have developed with our country’s major national security agencies through CFIUS, that type of data sharing, or any other form of foreign influence over the TikTok platform in the United States, would not be possible.” , finished.
A growing number of state and federal agencies have banned TikTok downloads on government devices in recent months, but Congress has yet to agree on any bans that affect consumers.