Tik Tok Banned Issue
Tik Tok CEO - Shou Chew
Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok, a division of the Chinese company ByteDance, struggled on Thursday to defend his program against obstinate American elected leaders who had generally denounced the platform before it was even threatened with being completely banned in the country.
The influential House Energy and Commerce Committee's chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, who called the audition, said, "I imagine you're going to say everything you can today to avoid this conclusion."
She said, "We don't believe you." ByteDance and TikTok are the same, and ByteDance owes money to the Chinese Communist Party.
The MPs, who unusually put on a united front, interrogated the Singaporean leader, a Harvard graduate, in a very combative manner.
Mr. Chew, welcome to the committee in Congress that is the most bipartisan. Although we don't always agree on the approach, we all want to safeguard our children, our economy, and our national security, according to Republican Buddy Carter.
The elected representatives barely allowed the former banker to speak for more than five hours. They assert that TikTok is used by the Chinese Communist Party for espionage and manipulation.
Its usage has recently been prohibited by the White House, the European Commission, the governments of Canada, and the United Kingdom, among other institutions.
By the end of the year, all data pertaining to the 150 million American customers would be controlled only from American servers, according to a commitment made by Shou Chew.
But he had to admit that Chinese staff may still access outdated data on the platform.
Life is "destroyed" by TikTok.
"ByteDance is not owned or under the authority of the Chinese government. But he kept saying, "It's a private company."
His arguments, according to Congressman Anna Eshoo, are "preposterous." She made reference to Chinese law, which mandates that businesses in the nation provide their data whenever Beijing requests it.
The elected Democrat Frank Pallone said, "I still believe that the communist leadership in Beijing will always have authority, and the ability to influence what you do.
There are several bills to outlaw TikTok that have support from both the right and left. The White House made a suggestion that TikTok would be prohibited if ByteDance continued to control it.
China's commerce minister declared before the hearing that he would "seriously" reject a coerced sale, emphasizing that any sale of TikTok would need Beijing's consent.
The CEO was frequently grilled about TikTok's obligations to protect young people's mental and physical health as well as the dangers of becoming addicted to the risky tasks that users set for themselves.
Gus Bilirakis pointed to the parents of a murdered youngster who had come to the court and stated, "Your firm shattered their life. They have complained to the platform, which they claim is showing their son countless videos of people committing suicide without their consent.
Credibility
After this torturous interrogation of Shou Chew, analyst Jasmine Enberg of Insider Intelligence stated that "the future of TikTok in the United States is more questionable than ever."
There wasn't much he could have said to persuade lawmakers that the Chinese Communist Party does not directly or indirectly control or influence TikTok.
A comprehensive ban, like the one in place in India as of 2020, according to the application and various groups, would be considered censorship.
16 NGOs wrote to Congress on Wednesday stating that "banning TikTok would fundamentally harm the credibility of the United States as a supporter of online freedom."
"Why is TikTok causing such hysteria? During a press conference on Wednesday evening with content creators who came to support their preferred network, asked Democratic Representative Jamaal Bowman.
The elected official claimed that the platform poses the same threats to user privacy, health, or misinformation as "Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter" and urged "honest conversation on all social networks."
A lot of influencers worry about losing all or part of their revenue as well as their following base.
A 20-year-old comedian named Duncan Joseph told AFP that he could never have created his "community" on other platforms because they are less "genuine."
Everyone can succeed on TikTok, according to the content producer.
0 Comments