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Tiktok does not allow itself to be “manipulated by any government” – and is prepared to give independent monitors full transparency. That’s what the controversial Chinese app’s top boss promises, in a scathing hearing in the US Congress.
It is the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee in the House of Representatives in Washington that has summoned Tiktok boss Shou Chew. The reason is the concerns in the US and in many other countries that the Chinese regime can use the app to monitor users and spread propaganda around the world.
– Let me say clearly and clearly: Bytedance (which developed Tiktok) is not an agent for China or for any other country, Chew said before the committee.
Four promises
The questioning has gained acute relevance because leading politicians in the US are threatening to completely ban Tiktok, despite the fact that the service is one of the world’s most popular social media. In the United States alone, there are “over 150 million people who love our platform,” claims Shou Chew in his speech.
– We have a responsibility to protect them, and therefore I issue the following promises, he says according to the written version published in advance.
The promises are fourfold: safety, “especially for teenagers” is the highest priority. US user data must be protected by firewalls from “unauthorized foreign access”. Tiktok allows itself “not to be manipulated by any government”. And finally, the service must “be transparent and open up to independent third-party monitors”.
“Malicious algorithms”
But media in the US seem to doubt that the defense speech will help. President Joe Biden supports the line that Tiktok must change owners, from China’s Bytedance which is feared to be influenced by the dictatorial regime in Beijing. And the app is also covered by a growing public concern about young people’s screen time.
– We know that “big tech” companies like Tiktok use malicious algorithms to exploit children to make money and expose them to dangerous content online, says Cathy McMorris Rodgers, chairwoman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, according to media.
According to the AFP news agency, the grilling of Shou Chew is expected to last for several hours, starting at 2 p.m. Swedish time.
British Parliament stops
While Chew is being grilled in Washington, the UK parliament has decided to join the government’s ban on the app.
The app is stopped on all of the parliament’s devices and the parliament’s network, according to the parliament, which adds that “cyber security is of the highest priority”. Individual Members can still use the app on their own phones, but not when connecting via Parliament’s network.