TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew will appear before the US Energy and Commerce Committee in March, as lawmakers scrutinize the Chinese-owned video-sharing app.
Chew will testify before the committee on March 23, which
will be his first appearance before a congressional committee, said
Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the Republican chair of the panel, in a
statement on Monday.
The news comes as the House Foreign Affairs Committee plans
to hold a vote next month on a bill aimed at blocking the use of TikTok in the
United States over national security concerns.
"ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the
ability for the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data,"
McMorris Rodgers said, adding that Americans deserve to know how these actions
impact their privacy and data security.
TikTok confirmed on Monday Chew will testify.
"We welcome the opportunity to set the record straight
about TikTok, ByteDance, and the commitments we are making to address concerns
about US national security before the House Committee on Energy and
Commerce," a company spokesperson said, adding the company hopes "by
sharing details of our comprehensive plans with the full committee, Congress
can take a more deliberative approach to the issues at hand."
The company also said "there is no truth to Rep.
McMorris Rodgers' claim that TikTok has made US user data available to the
Chinese Communist Party. The Chinese Communist Party has neither direct nor
indirect control of ByteDance or TikTok."
McMorris Rodgers and other Republican lawmakers have
demanded more information from TikTok. They want to know its impact on young
people amid concerns about harmful content, and they want additional details on
the potential sexual exploitation of minors on the platform, the statement
said.
For three years, TikTok – which has more than 100 million US
users – has been seeking to assure Washington that the personal data of US
citizens cannot be accessed and its content cannot be manipulated by China's
Communist Party or anyone else under Beijing's influence.
The US government's Committee on Foreign Investment in the
United States (CFIUS), a powerful national security body, in 2020, ordered ByteDance
to divest TikTok because of fears that US user data could be passed onto
China's government.
CFIUS and TikTok have been in talks for more than two years
aiming to reach a national security agreement to protect the data of US TikTok
users. The White House on Friday declined to comment on whether it would
support a legislative ban on TikTok or the status of the talks. © Reuters
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