Rep. Gus Bilirakis had the parents of 16-year-old Chase Nasca, who died by suicide last February, stand during his questioning of Chew.

The teen’s parents grew emotional as Bilirakis said Chase’s “For You" page was a “window to discover suicide.” The Florida Republican also played a number of TikTok videos discussing suicide and self-harm.

Chew called Chase's death "devastating" and said "we do take these issues very seriously."

The Social Media Victims Law Center announced a lawsuit yesterday against TikTok and ByteDance over Chase’s death.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. You can also call the network, previously known as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, at 800-273-8255, text HOME to 741741 or visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional resources.

Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Calif., asked Chew about whether TikTok has different policies for amplifying content related to depression or dieting versus content such as gardening and sports.

"Yes," Chew said. "We are trying out some policies together with experts to understand certain contents that are not inherently harmful, like extreme fitness, for example, but shouldn’t be seen too much."

He said these are models TikTok is building with experts to implement them across the platform, "particularly for younger users."

"I believe it’s imperative that the app take steps to moderate that behavior, rather than continuing to promote it," Matsui said.

In early March, TikTok rolled out features to curb screen time and expand parental involvement through family pairing. Specifically, TikTok said in a blog post that it would automatically set a 60-minute daily screen time limit for users younger than 18, as well as prompt underage users to set daily limits for themselves if they spend more than 100 minutes on the app.

A video showed a gun magazine being emptied in slow motion, while a text overlay read, "me as f at the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23."

Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., said the video threatens the life of Rodgers and has been up for 41 days, despite the content violating TikTok's community guidelines.

"You expect us to believe that you are capable of maintaining the data security, privacy and security of 150 million Americans where you can't even protect the people in this room," she said.

Latta questioned Chew on the "blackout challenge" that some have attributed to the death of young children, including 10-year-old Taiwanna Anderson.

The challenge involves participants holding their breath until they pass out. Latta called Taiwanna's death "one of the many devastating examples of children losing their lives because of content promoted by TikTok."

In October, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit alleging TikTok caused Taiwanna's death.

The prevalence of TikTok challenges have been called into question in recent years. The Washington Post reported last March that Facebook had hired GOP firm Targeted Victory to malign TikTok by amplifying negative challenges or pushing challenges that do not exist.

Rep. Dianne DeGette, D-Colo., pushed Chew to answer questions about health care misinformation on his platform.

She said, for example, that there has been "extreme content," such as suggesting using herbal treatments or papaya seeds to induce abortions.

"So if people searching for information on safe abortions went on TikTok, they could get devastatingly incorrect information," DeGette said.

She also said there have been videos featuring tutorials on how to make hydroxychloroquine — a drug then-President Donald Trump and other conspiracy theorists falsely said treats Covid — from grapefruit.

"No. 1, hydroxychloroquine is not effective in treating Covid," DeGette said. "So that’s one issue. The second issue is you can’t even make hydroxychloroquine from grapefruit. So again, this is a really serious miscommunication about health care information that people looking at TikTok are able to get and in fact, it’s being pushed out to them."

Chew denied that TikTok features that information. "The dangerous misinformation that you mentioned is not allowed on our platform," he said.

"I'm sorry to report, it is on your platform though," DeGette said.

Chew said, "We invest a significant amount in content moderation. ... I fully align with you that this is a problem that faces our industry. ... We need to take that very seriously."

As we cross the one-hour mark, members of Congress don't seem to be warming up to TikTok despite Chew's attempts to portray the app as largely a safe space for creative young Americans.

They have continued to press him on TikTok's ties to China, with members of both parties raising broad warnings that U.S. data is not safe.

Chew, meanwhile, keeps comparing his company to the rest of the tech industry, arguing that many of the app's ills — including disinformation and privacy issues — go well beyond TikTok and that his company is doing what it can to address them.

If you're watching this hearing, you're probably noticing references to something call Section 230.

Under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, internet giants such as TikTok bear no legal liability for the content posted by their users. This means that only the original speaker or poster may be held liable, with only a few exceptions.

The issue was raised during the congressional hearing after a federal judge in Pennsylvania found that the social media platform was not responsible after a 10-year-old girl died while participating in the "blackout challenge."

"Section 230 was never intended to shield companies like yours from amplifying dangerous and life-threatening content to children," Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, said.

In what has become a common refrain about tech-related congressional hearings, many people in the industry aren't terribly impressed with the questions and the general knowledge of our elected officials.