(PresidentialWire.com)- According to a report, Chinese-owned social media behemoth TikTok was grilled by the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and CEO Shou Chew took a beating from both Republicans and Democrats.
Concerns about content control on TikTok and whether or not the Chinese government might access user data led to more than 4 hours of questioning for Chew. Significantly, members of both parties voiced their disapproval, with one Republican in the House even praising Chew for uniting the GOP and the Democrats.
Reports show that earlier this month, the Biden administration hinted at a ban on TikTok if its Chinese owners didn’t give up their shares.
ByteDance, a Beijing-based Chinese firm, is the company behind the popular video-sharing app TikTok. A 2017 Chinese law mandates the support, assistance, and cooperation of all organizations in China, including private companies, in the state’s intelligence work.
CEO Shou Chew Chew claimed he had no proof of data access by the Chinese government, adding they never asked and “we have not” supplied it to them.
Statistics show that nearly half of all U.S. adults use Tiktok, and it is the 4th most widely used social media app overall.
According to the Washington Post, at a time when many legislators are contemplating a national ban, an ex-risk manager of TikTok has spoken to congressional investigators to express his fears that the company’s approach to securing US user data is gravely defective.
The report reveals that his accusations may derail Project Texas, a $1.5 billion reorganization plan that TikTok has been touting to Congress as a strategy to protect user data from being stolen or misused by the CCP (China).
The former risk manager, who spoke under protection due to fear of punishment by China, has told investigators that Project Texas isn’t sufficiently comprehensive and that truly sufficient protection of user data must involve total re-engineering of how TikTok is operated currently.
