TikTok is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party, US congressmen are convinced. Not even TikTok boss Shou Zi Chew could change her mind. In the hearing, which lasted several hours, he rarely spoke.
It was not an easy task and he failed: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew had to face the US Congress and its questions on Thursday evening (our time). And in doing so, nothing less than TikTok’s future in the US is at stake. The position of the deputies was clear: we trust TikTok, but above all we don’t trust the People’s Republic of China. The former Goldman Sachs manager and current CEO of the popular video platform, which has captivated half of the US population, was not concerned with rebuilding trust between the US and China, but rather with the existence the app. But one thing is clear for the MPs: TikTok is a tool of the Chinese Communist Party.
Chew answered questions from lawmakers in a multi-hour marathon and did his best to convince them that TikTok operates responsibly, within the law and independently of the Chinese government. “Let me be clear: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” he said in his prepared statement. He defended TikTok’s privacy practices, saying they are in line with those of other social media platforms, adding that in many cases the app collects less data than its competitors. “There are more than 150 million Americans who love our platform, and we know we have a responsibility to protect them,” Chew said.
One thing is certain: the deputies did not want to hear his statements at all. They forced him into a corset of yes-or-no questions. If the manager tried to answer in more detail, he was interrupted. In many cases, the deputies answered their own questions.
Mobilization plays into the hands of Congress
Other bosses of social media platforms have also had to face this procedure. These include Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Sheryl Sandberg and Google’s Sundar Pichai. Hearings like this are often presented as a precursor to strict regulation, but in the United States they are mostly a substitute for it. So normally the bosses are summoned before the US Congress, attacked and accused and reprimanded for several hours. Most of the time, they didn’t have to fear the consequences. But unlike usual, TikTok cannot expect any political support. Democrats and Republicans alike agree: Chinese ownership is unsustainable. The hearing obviously could not and should not change this attitude.
On Tuesday, Shou Zi Chew released a video, of course on TikTok, to mobilize the 150 million US users. To encourage them to take action and persuade their MPs to vote against a ban. The call did not go unheard even in the US Congress and is grist for the politicians’ arguments. The app wants to influence the US population. Chew couldn’t do anything about that. Also worries that the company’s owner, ByteDance, could be forced by the Chinese government to monitor Americans or try to use their algorithms to influence them by promoting pro-Chinese or anti-American content.
What’s next?
The US government plans to force the sale, as it did under Donald Trump. So the app should no longer be Chinese in the future, but in American hands. Chew is determined to prevent that: “The divestment does not address the fundamental concerns I have heard, as a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flow or access.” The question of security is not one of nationality. Rather, it is necessary to create common standards that apply equally to all companies.
Chew’s argument is valid: that national privacy legislation would do more to stop the misuse of Americans’ data than selling it or outright prohibiting it. But in the case of TikTok, Chinese ownership would continue to be a problem for the US government. This could only be solved through a sale. And the politicians are sticking to that, despite the lack of evidence that China’s government is directly influencing TikTok. The data security initiatives such as “Project Texas” (USA) and “Project Clover” (Europe) are not convincing either: “I still believe that the communist government in Beijing will control and influence what you do,” said the democratic Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. The company’s proposed solution, the data silo initiative, which it calls “Project Texas,” is “simply unacceptable.”
TikTok is preparing for a possible ban
“Shou was prepared to answer questions from Congress, but unfortunately the day was dominated by political grandstanding that failed to productively address the real solutions already being tackled by Project Texas, nor the industry-wide youth safety issues,” TikTok said in a subsequent statement. According to TikTok, no consideration was given to the 150 million users and the five million companies that build on TikTok.
A corresponding legislative proposal for a possible ban on TikTok is already available. But the idea of a national ban still faces major legal hurdles. And it also has to stand up to the users, the American population, who are probably reluctant to do without TikTok. Often also for economic reasons, because after all, the existence of at least five million people is based on TikTok, as the company announced. In addition, previous attempts to ban TikTok under the Trump administration have been blocked in court, including over concerns over freedom of expression.
Germany does not want a TikTok ban
In the debate about the short video service Tiktok, the German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser sees no basis for a general ban on the app in Germany. However, one must clarify more that Tiktok is a company from which “the data can of course flow away,” said SPD politician Faeser on Wednesday (local time) in Washington. In Austria, a decision is not yet in sight. The Ministry of the Interior is currently examining a possible ban. However, this primarily relates to the use of the app on service devices by politicians and civil servants.