![]() Whether those promises will alleviate concern is another matter. “Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made.” ![]() user data with the Chinese government,” Chew said. ![]() “TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. It’s “emphatically untrue” that TikTok sends data on its American users to Beijing, he said. He distanced TikTok from its Chinese roots and denied the “inaccurate” belief that TikTok’s corporate structure makes it “beholden to the Chinese government.” ByteDance has evolved into a privately held “global enterprise,” Chew said, with 60% owned by big institutional investors, 20% owned by the Chinese entrepreneurs who founded it and the rest by employees. “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said. House Committee on Energy and Commerce.Ĭhew pushed back against fears that TikTok could become a tool of China’s ruling Communist Party because its parent company, ByteDance, was founded in Beijing and also operates from there. TikTok’s efforts to ensure the security of its users’ data go “above and beyond” what any of its rivals are doing, according to Chew’s prepared remarks released ahead of his appearance before the U.S. On Thursday, Chew will be sticking to a familiar script as he urges officials against pursuing an all-out ban on TikTok or for the company to be sold off to new owners. Last year, the company spent more than $5.3 million on dispatching lobbyists to the Hill to make its case, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks lobbying spending. TikTok’s response to the political pressure can be seen all around the nation’s Capitol, with the company putting up ads in area airports and metro stations that include promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users. “We have not received a bipartisan Congressional briefing on the national security risk of TikTok.” “Usually when there’s an issue of national security concern, they hold a bipartisan Congressional briefing on that particular issue,” Bowman said. He said if Congress wants to have an “honest” conversation about data collection, it should focus on a national privacy law that targets all social media companies – not just TikTok. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., characterized the national security concerns that have been raised as xenophobic hysteria due to TikTok’s Chinese origins. At a news conference Wednesday with the influencers, Rep. A recent incident with a spy balloon forced even some wary congressional Democrats to join Republicans in opposition, and there is now a strong bipartisan concern in Washington that Beijing would use legal and regulatory power to seize American user data or use the platform to push favorable narratives or misinformation.īut the company has also gotten support from at least three progressive lawmakers who say they oppose a ban on the platform. adversaries - Russia and Iran - has come into focus. The effort to target TikTok is part of a larger, tougher approach that Congress has taken in the past several months as China’s relationship with two U.S. She said her popularity on TikTok has also allowed her to have other opportunities, like TV and commercial acting roles. ![]() She’s been able to make a full-time career from her videos, earning income from partnerships with brands looking to capture the eyes of her 1.7 million followers. Janette Ok, a fashion and beauty influencer on TikTok, said in an interview Wednesday that TikTok invited her to the lobbying event a few weeks ago and paid for her trip to Washington. The administration is reportedly demanding the company’s Chinese owners sell their stakes or face a nationwide ban. TikTok has been attempting to sell that proposal to the Biden administration, but skeptics have argued it doesn’t go far enough. data to domestic servers owned and maintained by the software giant Oracle. At a media event coordinated by TikTok on Wednesday, some content creators acknowledged that concerns about data security are legitimate, but pointed to precautions the company is taking, such as a $1.5 billion plan - dubbed Project Texas - to route all U.S.
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