TikTok CEO to Appear Before US Congress, as Pressure Mounts on the Chinese-Owned App

With a potential US ban looming, TikTok is scrambling to reassure US regulators that it’s going to adjust to all necessities round transparency, and person information protections, which can see TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testify earlier than the Home Vitality and Commerce Committee on March twenty third, in his first-ever look earlier than a Congressional committee.

As reported by Axios:

“Chew shall be requested about TikTok’s client privateness and information safety practices, the platforms’ impression on youngsters, and their relationship with the Chinese language Communist Celebration.”

The latter being the major sticking level. Proper now, TikTok is beneath extra stress than ever, amid ongoing fears round how the app may very well be utilized as a spying machine by the Chinese language Authorities, if the CCP have been to so select.

These fears stem from China’s strict cybersecurity regulations, which stipulate that any Chinese language-owned firm wants to share inner information, together with info on customers, on request from CCP officers. There’s no proof to counsel that the CCP has made any such request of TikTok at this stage, however a current case noticed officers from TikTok proprietor ByteDance use the app to spy on US journalists whom it suspected of assembly with ByteDance staff.

That’s additional elevated scrutiny of the app, whereas at the similar time, a rising variety of US state officers are banning TikTok on government-owned devices due to spying issues.

And the state of affairs may very well be set to get even worse for TikTok in the coming weeks.

Final week, Republican Senator Josh Hawley mentioned that he would quickly introduce a new bill calling for a full ban of TikTok nationwide. Hawley has the help of a number of influential senators in his push, which can as soon as once more ramp up stress on the app, and will certainly see it face expulsion from the US earlier than the 12 months is out.

Which might be a devastating blow for ByeDance. TikTok is vastly common in the US, and provides large income potential – whereas you may as well think about that if the US bans the app, different western areas will at the least contemplate following swimsuit.

Which all makes Shou Zi Chew’s upcoming look extra urgent, and it’ll be attention-grabbing to see how he responds to questions on TikTok’s processes and plans in the March twenty third look.

That might properly be the inflection level, the place we get a clearer indication of the app’s future in the US.

Until then, TikTok will proceed to push forward with its $1.5 billion US reformation plan, which incorporates storing US person information on Oracle servers in the US.