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Lawmakers in the United States have expressed concerns about the influence of the short-video platform TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, calling for a nationwide ban. During five hours of testimony before Congress, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew repeatedly denied that the app shares data or has links with the Chinese Communist Party, and stated that US user data is stored on American soil and overseen by American personnel. However, there was no support for TikTok from lawmakers, who accused the platform of promoting eating disorders among children and drug sales and sexual exploitation. They also expressed concerns about harms to children’s mental health, and accused Chew of avoiding tough questions.
The company has spent more than $1.5bn on data security efforts under the name “Project Texas” and now has nearly 1,500 full-time employees contracted to Oracle to store US user data. TikTok is not available in China where the company operates the platform Douyin. However, TikTok’s fate has led to tensions between Washington and Beijing, and 20 US senators – 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans – have backed legislation to give President Joe Biden the power to ban TikTok. TikTok last week reported that the Biden administration had demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face potential ban. Any sale, said China’s commerce ministry, would damage global investors’ confidence.
