Shou Zi Chew, CEO of the popular social media platform TikTok, will be appearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23rd to discuss privacy and data security measures, the impact of the app on children, and the company’s ties to China. The hearing, which will be Chew’s first in front of a congressional panel, will address concerns regarding the possibility of China forcing the company to hand over user data.
Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers stated, “ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the ability for the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data. Americans deserve to know how these actions impact their privacy and data security, as well as what actions TikTok is taking to keep our kids safe from online and offline harms.”
In an effort to assuage concerns, TikTok has taken measures to store US user data on domestic Oracle servers and has deleted such data from its own servers in the US and Singapore. Oracle has been reviewing TikTok’s algorithms and content moderation models to ensure no signs of Chinese interference.
TikTok has faced challenges in the US over the last few years regarding its relationship with Chinese authorities and security concerns. In December, lawmakers passed a bill that bans TikTok from federal government-owned devices, and more than half of states have implemented similar bans on local government devices. Some senators and members of Congress have also renewed efforts to ban the app in the US entirely.
News of Chew’s appearance before the committee comes on Data Privacy Day, and TikTok has taken steps to reinforce user privacy, including plans to establish a data center in Dublin to store UK and European Economic Area data.
