TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, had a tumultuous and arduous experience while testifying for four-and-a-half hours at a US congressional hearing on Thursday. The intense and continuous grilling by both Democrats and Republicans exhibited no signs of abating. Here are five convoluted and perplexing revelations from the hearing:
1. Legislators’ Perplexing Agreement Against TikTok
The Democrats and Republicans alike were disparaging and skeptical of TikTok, and their level of skepticism was vividly apparent. It was an extraordinary spectacle to observe a multitude of politicians concurring wholeheartedly that TikTok posed a substantial security threat. However, TikTok complained that the platform’s measures to safeguard data had not been given adequate discussion time.
2. ByteDance’s Muddled Data Access in China
Mr Chew confirmed that ByteDance engineers, who are based in China, have access to data. This was a crucially crucial point of apprehension for politicians who believe that if data can be accessed by Chinese engineers, the Chinese government could also access it, leading to convoluted and messy geopolitical ramifications.
3. Chew’s Ownership of ByteDance Shares
Despite Mr Chew’s attempts to disassociate TikTok from ByteDance, he was compelled to concede that he owns shares in the Chinese company. The Chinese government has openly declared that it would oppose any US proposal that compels ByteDance to sell TikTok, causing further muddling in this already perplexing situation.
4. Chew’s Bursty Child App Usage
Mr Chew disclosed that his children do not use TikTok because they live in Singapore, where the version of the app for children under 13 is unavailable. However, Mr Chew clarified that the children’s version of the app is available in the US, and he would allow his children to use it if they were in America. This burstiness in the app’s availability across different countries has led to confusion and perplexity among users and policymakers alike.
5. The Cambridge Analytica Enigma
Mr Chew’s sharp and barbed comment about American companies’ track record with data when quizzed about TikTok’s use of user data, pointed out that Facebook’s harvesting of users’ personal information by Cambridge Analytica caused uproar in 2018, further complicating the already convoluted discussion.
In conclusion, the congressional hearing depicted a united and convoluted opposition towards TikTok, with significant apprehensions surrounding data access by Chinese engineers and Mr Chew’s personal ties to ByteDance. However, Mr Chew’s effective pushback on some points and his rational comment about American companies’ track record with data added an additional layer of complexity to an already perplexing situation.
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