TikTok CEO expected to focus on technical data security points in US Congressional testimony as ByteDance keeps head down
- CEO Chew Shou Zi is scheduled to face questions from US lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Thursday
- Internal comments by Chew indicate he will focus on data security measures in his testimony to House Energy and Commerce Committee
TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi, who is scheduled to face questions from US lawmakers at a Congressional hearing on Thursday, said in an internal video conference that the best solution to data concerns is to “build very comprehensive security measures”, according to local media outlet 36Kr.
Chew, a Singaporean, is set to face tough scrutiny of the short video app’s data practices and alleged links with Chinese authorities as US lawmakers assess whether the platform is a national security threat.
The Biden administration has threatened to ban TikTok in the US unless the company’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests its stake in it, according to news reports. This would be a repeat of a similar request made by former US President Donald Trump more than two years ago.
TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter told Reuters last week that the company had been told by the US Treasury-led committee on foreign investment in the United States (CFIUS) that the Chinese owners of the app must sell their shares to avoid a possible US ban of the video app.
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In a separate news report, Chew was quoted by the Wall Street Journal as saying that a forced sale of ownership would not help to address data security concerns.
Beijing is also likely to oppose a change in ownership, having blocked a stake sale last time by insisting that it has the right to ban exports of the domestically-developed algorithms that power the app.