TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify(Opens in a brand new window) in a Congressional listening to set to happen on March 23.
The U.S. Home Power and Commerce Committee on Monday introduced the committee look by way of press launch(Opens in a brand new window).
TikTok’s ties to its China-based father or mother firm, Bytedance, has obtained mounting scrutiny in recent times. The U.S. federal authorities not too long ago banned(Opens in a brand new window) the cell viral video app from government-issued units.
Whereas many such congressional hearings on Massive Tech have centered on multiple firm or platform within the business, this might be one with a hyper deal with TikTok. The listening to might be centered on “TikTok’s client privateness and knowledge safety practices, the platforms’ influence on children, and their relationship with the Chinese language Communist Get together,” the discharge states.
The Trump administration tried to outright ban the TikTok app from the U.S. in 2020 however was blocked from doing so on the time. To assist alleviate issues from lawmakers concerning its U.S. customers’ security, TikTok partnered(Opens in a brand new window) with Oracle in an effort to route U.S. site visitors via the U.S.-based firm’s servers.
Congressional Republicans have continued to set their sights on TikTok because of its ties with the China-based Bytedance. With Republicans now in charge of the Home, certainly one of their first orders of enterprise seems to be to tackle the video platform that’s extremely widespread with younger individuals in america.
This would possibly not be TikTok’s very first look earlier than Congress as the corporate has despatched representatives to testify in earlier hearings. Nevertheless, this does mark its CEO’s first look.
UPDATE: Jan. 30, 2023, 5:09 p.m. EST TikTok supplied an announcement concerning the listening to to Mashable.
“We welcome the chance to set the file straight about TikTok, ByteDance, and the commitments we’re making to handle issues about U.S. nationwide safety earlier than the Home Committee on Power and Commerce,” mentioned TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter. “We hope that by sharing particulars of our complete plans with the complete Committee, Congress can take a extra deliberative strategy to the problems at hand.”
