Shou Zi Chew, the chief executive officer of ByteDance—the parent company of TikTok—is set to appear before the United States Congress to address data‑privacy concerns. Lawmakers will grill Chew on Thursday as they consider legislation that would allow President Joe Biden to impose a nationwide ban on the app, according to CBS News.
The House Committee on Energy and Commerce said the hearing will focus on TikTok’s consumer‑privacy and data‑security practices, the platform’s impact on children, and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party. TikTok has faced intense scrutiny over its ties to the Chinese government, and many Western nations, including the United States, have prohibited the app on government‑owned devices.
In December, U.S. senators introduced a bill to ban TikTok nationwide. Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a sponsor of the legislation and member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, argued that the app is more than a video‑sharing tool; it is a conduit for the Chinese government to collect sensitive data from Americans. Earlier this year, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan disclosed that the White House welcomed the bill, which would empower the president to block the app if it poses risks to Americans’ data and national security.
The U.S. military, State Department, and Department of Homeland Security have already barred TikTok from their computer systems. Similarly, the European Commission, United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand have ordered government employees to delete the app from official devices. A recent Wall Street Journal report revealed that the U.S. government has now demanded ByteDance sell its TikTok shares or face a national ban.
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