Shou Zi Chew answered questions from American elected officials who accuse the social network of harming national security and the mental health of its users.
The CEO of TikTok Shou Zi Chew was questioned this Thursday, March 23, 2023 by the American Congress, within the framework of the examination of a bipartisan law, the RESTRICT Act, which could lead to the prohibition of TikTok in the United States.
Suspected by regulators of transmitting its data to the Chinese Communist Party, the social network was under fire from criticism from elected Congressmen, who also criticized TikTok for its “addictive algorithm”, which would be harmful to the mental health of its young users.
Data accessible to Chinese employees
From the start, the tone was set: “We don’t believe you”, immediately asserted Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the president of the parliamentary committee on Energy and Commerce, who summoned Shou Zi Chew for a hearing.
“ByteDance is indebted to the Chinese Communist Party and ByteDance and TikTok are the same,” she said.
To stay on American soil, TikTok could be ordered to separate from its parent company, the Chinese group ByteDance, which also owns the Douyin social network. “The Chinese government does not own or control ByteDance. It is a private company,” the leader defended himself during his keynote speech.
“I am one of those who do not believe that there really is a private sector in China,” said representative Anna Eshoo, referring to the Chinese law which requires companies in the country to share their data if Beijing imposes it on them. On Monday, the spokesperson for the Chinese Minister of Commerce also publicly opposed the sale of TikTok, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The Harvard-educated Singaporean boss lost his confidence when he admitted the platform still had old US user data stored on servers accessed by Chinese employees.
The leader has continued to highlight the future “Project Texas”, which consists of hosting the data of the country’s 150 million users only in the United States, on servers from the Texas group Oracle.
“Today, there is still data that we have to delete,” he admitted, however.
According to TikTok, US users make up 10% of its global base, but 25% of views. “There is no evidence that the Texas project is anything less than a marketing gimmick,” said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, referring to the fact that storing data in one place does not prevent anyone else to consult it.
Harmful algorithm
Congress also raised the issue of the platform’s recommendation algorithms, which mechanically highlight popular videos, including those promoting anorexia, drugs or dangerous challenges.
Present in the room were the parents of a 16-year-old boy who died by throwing himself under a train after being inspired by suicide videos discovered on TikTok, according to Florida Republican elected official Gus Bilirakis. “Your business destroyed their lives,” the rep claimed.
The TikTok CEO recalled its financial efforts for more moderation, adding that viewing time is limited to 60 minutes for those under 18 – a feature however limited by the lack of age verification. He also insisted on the creative aspect of the platform, adding that many users have relied on content available on TikTok to get rid of their addictions.
The debates also focused on the disinformation videos propagated on the social network, including containing false election dates that could mislead American voters. Currently, one piece of legislation, Section 230, protects platforms from legal action for the content their users post. But several recent cases brought before Congress tend to question the responsibility of social networks in highlighting content recommended by their algorithm.
Missing evidence
But the low-wounds on the prosecution side about the possible sharing of data with Beijing. The White House, the European Commission and the Canadian and British governments did not wait for concrete evidence to ban their officials from using TikTok.
Earlier this month, Forbes revealed that an investigation had been opened by the US Department of Justice and the FBI into the possible espionage of three of its journalists by the Chinese application. Independent research has concluded that TikTok’s code does not differ from that of other social networks such as Facebook or Instagram in terms of collecting personal data.
“Our analysis was clear that we have no visibility into what happens to user data once collected and transmitted to TikTok servers”, however, specified the director of Citizen Lab, Ronald Deibert, before the hearing, as a member of Congress recalled. “(…)
We even speculated on possible mechanisms through which the Chinese government could use unconventional techniques to obtain user data by putting pressure on ByteDance”, assures the founder of this citizen platform.
