In a wildly dramatic and painful-to-watch session, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before Congress in a hearing that will determine the future of the social media app. <\/p>\n
Just as US user adoption hit 150 million, the CEO faced tough questions from out-of-touch congresspeople about safety, privacy, selling data, and security concerns. Here\u2019s what happened:<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,\u201d Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in her opening statement<\/a>. \u201cTikTok has repeatedly chosen a path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n Privacy and security. <\/strong>Let\u2019s remember there is no evidence that TikTok has shared U.S. user data with the Chinese government, but policymakers fear that the Chinese government could compel the company to do so. Chew says legacy U.S. data in Virginia and Singapore servers are being deleted. \u201cWe expect that to be complete this year. When that is done, all protected U.S. data will be under the protection of U.S. law.\u201d<\/p>\n Chew says the company has created \u201cwhat amounts to a firewall that seals off protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access.\u201d \u201cAmerican data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n