Committee chair says hearing will 'expose the truth' about TikTok threat
Rodgers said Chew will appear in front of the committee today “for us to expose the truth about the threat that TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” during an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
She added that TikTok has been “caught repeatedly in lies” about its connection to ByteDance and the Chinese Communist Party. The committee will ask Chew “why he has said that individuals' data is not being tracked or there’s not surveillance” despite journalists having been tracked and TikTok employees having said that “everything is seen by China,” she said.
“Those are the kind of questions that we want to ask and ultimately to expose the fact that TikTok is a threat and now cannot be trusted with our data,” she said.
Rodgers said she believes that there will be a “renewed call” by members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for a national data privacy standard in the U.S.
Sen. Warner knocks TikTok's credibility ahead of hearing
Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., a lead sponsor of legislation that could be used to ban TikTok in the U.S., knocked the company's credibility ahead of today's hearing.
“While I appreciate Mr. Chew’s willingness to answer questions before Congress, TikTok’s lack of transparency, repeated obfuscations, and misstatements of fact have severely undermined the credibility of any statements by TikTok employees, including Mr. Chew," he said in a statement yesterday afternoon.
Warner noted that his RESTRICT Act has bipartisan support with 20 co-sponsors in the Senate. The White House has endorsed the bill, which would give the commerce secretary broad powers to regulate, or ban, technology produced in six countries defined as a "foreign adversary": China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela.
TikTok CEO arrives
China criticizes possible U.S. plan to force TikTok sale
China’s government said Thursday it would oppose possible U.S. plans to force TikTok’s Chinese owner to sell the short-video service as a security risk and warned such a move would hurt investor confidence in the United States.
“If the news is true, China will resolutely oppose it,” said Shu Jueting, a Chinese Commerce Ministry spokeswoman. She gave no indication what Beijing might do.
A forced sale “would seriously damage investors from multiple countries including China” and hurt “confidence to invest in the United States,” she said.
The House's biggest TikToker defends the app, but says security worries are 'real'
A TikTok-famous North Carolina lawmaker said Wednesday that while he recognizes “real” security concerns tied to the Chinese-owned video app, he also doesn’t see a ban as inevitable.
Democratic Rep. Jeff Jackson, who boasts 1.2 million followers on TikTok, said in an interview that he attributes some of his public recognition to the popular app, which has helped him reach constituents of varying ages.
“It just happens to be the case that you get way more views on TikTok than you do on Instagram or Facebook. Like 10 times as many,” Jackson, 40, said. “I have been able to reach a lot of people, and at the same time I think the security concerns are real.”
China has some of the most popular apps of the moment
It's not just TikTok.
Many of the most popular apps on Apple and Google's respective platforms are owned by or linked to Chinese companies.
They include Temu, a shopping app that has skyrocketed in popularity, owned by Chinese e-commerce company Pinduoduo. ByteDance has TikTok, as well as CapCut, a video editor. Shopping apps Shein and AliExpress are also near the top of the app ranks, according to the app tracker SensorTower.
TikTok CEO to appear before Congress amid growing security concerns
Creators protest potential TikTok ban in D.C. before the hearing
A group of about 30 content creators gathered outside the nation’s Capitol yesterday, holding signs that echoed their plea to lawmakers: “Keep TikTok.”
The TikTokers — who have a collective following of over 60 million people — joined Rep. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., and Rep. Robert Garcia, D-Calif., for a rally to discuss their opposition to a potential ban.
“I use TikTok to share a love of my family and our journey through foster care and adoption, and through that I’ve been able to create a community of people from all over the world,” TikTok creator Jason Linton, known as @dadlifejason, said while addressing the crowd. “I’m asking our politicians: Don’t take away the community that we’ve built.”
'Ban TikTok': GOP Sen. Cotton says 'American data is at risk'
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas said nothing that Chew says during his congressional hearing "will change the fact that American data is at risk."
He introduced one of the bills to ban the Chinese-owned social media platform in the U.S., saying that it collects private information of American users "and provides the Chinese Communist Party with access to that information."
"Ban TikTok," Cotton declared in a tweet this morning before the hearing began.
Tech lab tells TikTok to stop citing its work
The head of the Citizen Lab, an academic research project at the University of Toronto, said Wednesday night that he is "disappointed" that TikTok executives continue to cite its work as a defense of the app's data practices.
"I've called them out on this in the past, and it's unfortunate that I have to do it again," Citizen Lab Director Ron Deibert wrote.
The lab published research in 2021 that found TikTok collected data like many other apps, but could not tell what the company did with that data.
"The conversation about potential privacy and national security concerns with TikTok should serve as a reminder that most social media apps are unacceptably invasive-by-design, treat users as raw materials for data surveillance, and fall short on transparency about their data sharing practices," Deibert added.