TikTok CEO to tell Congress the app is safe and call for a ban

WASHINGTON — TikTok’s CEO plans to tell Congress that the video-sharing app is focused on user safety, data protection, and security, as well as protecting the platform from Chinese government influence.

On Thursday, Show Tzu Chu is due to answer questions from US lawmakers concerned about the social media platform’s impact on its young users and possible national security risks posed by the popular app, which was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs.

Chu is sticking to a familiar scenario, urging officials not to impose a complete ban on TikTok and sell the company to new owners.

TikTok’s efforts to keep its user data secure, including a $1.5 billion project to store information on Oracle servers in the US and allow outsiders to verify its source code, go “above and beyond” what its competitors are doing. according to Chu’s prepared comments released ahead of his speech before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce.

“No other social network or entertainment platform like TikTok provides this level of access and transparency,” he said.

Chu dismissed concerns that TikTok could become a tool of China’s ruling Communist Party, as its parent company ByteDance is based in Beijing. He said ByteDance has grown into a private “global enterprise” 60% owned by large institutional investors, 20% by the Chinese entrepreneurs who founded it, and the rest by employees.

“Let me be clear: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chu said.

TikTok has come under fire in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, where a growing number of governments are banning TikTok from devices used for official purposes over concerns that it poses cybersecurity and data privacy risks or could be used to promote pro-Beijing narratives. . and disinformation.