China: TikTok CEO Mr. Shou Zi Chew will assure senators that the Chinese-owned video app will never share user data with Beijing due to the rising push in the US to outright ban the platform.
Mr. Chew will appear before the Energy and Commerce Committee of the US House of Representatives on 23rd March 2023. There, he is likely to face questions over allegations that the Chinese Communist Party might manipulate the app. Last week, the business confirmed rumours that the White House had ordered TikTok to sever relations with its Chinese owners or risk being banned.
“TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honour such a request if one were ever made,” Mr. Chew will testify, according to written testimony posted by the House committee.
Mr. Chew said that neither the Chinese government nor any other state body owns or controls ByteDance, the parent firm of TikTok. Critics of TikTok, particularly US lawmakers, claim that the software compromises national security and the privacy of Americans.
According to TikTok, “Project Texas” is an endeavour to protect the data of US customers that has cost more than $1.5 billion. Washington is allegedly “spreading misinformation” and “suppressing” the app, according to Beijing. Mr. Chew claimed in a TikTok post that there are now more than 150 million monthly users of TikTok in the US, up from 100 million in 2020.
“let me know in the comments what you want your elected representatives to know about what you love about TikTok. Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok. Now, this could take TikTok away from all 100 and 50 million of you,” Mr. Chew remarked.