New York
Act Daily News
—
Shou Zi Chew is preparing for his inaugural journey to Congress.
The TikTok chief government has, for the final week, participated in near-daily, multi-hour prep classes, Act Daily News has realized, as he readies to face a bipartisan grilling on Thursday from lawmakers on a variety of points, most notably information privateness and safety, in his first sworn testimony earlier than US lawmakers.
In prep classes, which have taken place in Washington, D.C. forward of the high-stakes listening to, TikTok personnel have labored to sharpen and polish Chew’s presentation. They have performed the roles of lawmakers with numerous questioning kinds, peppering Chew with follow queries and situations to prepared him for hours of relentless interrogation.
TikTok is hoping that each one the prep pays off. Chew’s testimony comes at a pivotal second for the brief kind social media firm that stormed onto the scene in 2016 with viral goofy dance movies and now faces severe threats to its very existence within the U.S. and different Western international locations. The Biden administration demanded earlier this month that the corporate’s Chinese homeowners divest from the corporate or be exiled from the nation.
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The app has raised bipartisan nationwide safety considerations and rising worries that its subtle algorithm poses a hazard to younger folks. While a few of these considerations are extra hyperbole than truth, the corporate has turn out to be a political soccer amid deepening US-China tensions, with some politicians taking a stiff stance on the corporate to sign their robust place on the Chinese Communist Party.
Chew is seeking to push again on these narratives and can attempt to underscore 4 explicit factors to the committee: that TikTok has a dedication to security, significantly for younger folks; that TikTok will “firewall” US consumer information; that TikTok “will not be manipulated” by any authorities; and that it’ll “be transparent and give access to third-party independent monitors.”
“I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party,” Chew acknowledged in his ready remarks posted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee forward of the listening to.
But, Chew will argue that it’s “emphatically untrue” TikTok’s company construction “makes it beholden to the Chinese government or that it shares information about US users with the Chinese government.”
Whether the committee is receptive to his arguments is up within the air. If I have been a betting man, I’d not put cash on it. Chew won’t be on pleasant grounds, as made clear by the assertion Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the chair of the committee, issued prematurely of the listening to.
“Americans deserve to know the extent to which their privacy is jeopardized and their data is manipulated by ByteDance-owned TikTok’s relationship with China,” McMorris Rodgers mentioned. “What’s worse, we know Big Tech companies, like TikTok, use harmful algorithms to exploit children for profit and expose them to dangerous content online.”
The congresswoman mentioned she needed Chew to “answer for” TikTok’s “destructive actions.” We’ll see how that goes.
Source: www.cnn.com