Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from
Washington, kicked off the hearing with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew
saying that within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, the content
algorithm promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and encourages
"dangerous" challenges that can put kids' lives at risk.
Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content
on TikTok "exacerbated feelings of emotional stress" in children.
Chew, in his first appearance before Congress, testified
that while the "vast majority" of TikTok users are over the age of
18, the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the
app.
The hearing comes at a crucial moment for TikTok, as the
Biden administration is facing growing pressure from lawmakers to ban the app
in the country for national security concerns. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a
Chinese tech company.
Lawmakers quizzed Chew about whether Americans' user data
could be accessed by the Chinese government as well as how it prevented harmful
content from reaching young users.
Rep. Bob Latta, Republican from Ohio, spoke during the
hearing of a 10-year-old girl who suffocated herself doing a so-called
"blackout challenge" from videos posted on the app. Latta said TikTok
should not be protected by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of
1996, a law that generally gives online platforms immunity for content
generated by users.
Chew later said during the hearing that content such as
dangerous challenges were prohibited from TikTok.
TikTok has rolled out more parental control tools recently,
and earlier this month said it was in the early stages of developing a feature
that would let parents to block their teens from seeing videos that contain
certain words or hashtags. © Reuters
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