Injuring, harming, unrelenting. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced four and a half hours of questioning at a US congressional hearing on Thursday.
As one congressman pointed out, some people run faster than a marathon.
Mr. Chew must be feeling it, giving evidence after a tough time. Many tech executives stand before Congress, and they often don’t get an easy ride.
But what was unusual about the hearing was the stubborn and never-ending line of vicious questions.
There was no decline from both Democrats and Republicans.
A TikTok spokesperson later said the politicians were “fantastic”. There is certainly some truth to this.
But amidst the sometimes frustrating word questions, we learned a thing or two.
Chew’s children do not use TikTok
At one point in the hearing, Mr. Chew was asked by Congresswoman Nanette Barragán, a Democrat, whether her own children use TikTok.
He said he did not because he lives in Singapore. The version of the app for children under 13 is not available in this country.
Mr. Chew clarified that a children’s version of the app is available in the US, and that he would let his children use it if he were in the US.
ByteDance engineers in China have access to some US data
Mr. Chew went on to talk about a policy called “Project Texas,” which would store all data in the U.S. under the supervision of the American firm Oracle.
However, Project Texas is not fully operational. So far, Mr. Chew confirmed that ByteDance engineers in China have access to the data.
“We rely on global interoperability, Chinese engineers have access to data,” he said.
It was a confession that politicians kept repeating. If engineers in China can access the data, it’s hard to see how the Chinese government can’t, he said.
Chew has shares in ByteDance
Perhaps Mr. Chiu’s least successful defense was trying to distance TikTok from ByteDance.
By any definition, the Chinese company owns TikTok. Mr. Chew himself used to be the chief financial officer of ByteDance.
When initially asked, Mr Chiu did not want to say whether he owned shares in ByteDance.
Under pressure from lawmakers, he eventually said he did, but tried to downplay the connection.
What about Cambridge Analytica, folks?
Mr. Chew typically pulled his punches. He often did not take this fight to members of Congress. But there were rare moments where he pushed back — and effectively.
When questioned about TikTok’s use of user data, he said: “With all due respect, American companies don’t have a great track record with data … just look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica.”
It was a sarcastic comment, but a valid point to make.
The harvesting of Facebook users’ personal information by Cambridge Analytica, a British political consultancy, and other third-party apps came to light in 2018.
Legislators were united against TikTok
TikTok was initially criticized from both sides, but the level of mistrust and skepticism from all sides was strong.
“Welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress,” said Republican Congressman Buddy Carter.
Thank you, Mr. Chew, for bringing Republicans and Democrats together, Dan Crenshaw said.
It was truly something to see so many politicians — who agree on practically nothing — wholeheartedly agree that TikTok was a security threat.
TikTok later complained that not enough time had passed to focus on the platform’s measures to keep data safe.
“Not mentioned by committee members today: the livelihoods of the 5 million businesses on TikTok or the First Amendment implications of [the US Constitution] banning a platform that 150 million Americans love,” TikTok’s The spokesman said.
TikTok is apparently spending millions of dollars on aggressive lobbying efforts in Washington. If today is anything to go by, they will need to spend a lot.
