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Fox Business reports:
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday as the massive social media platform faces a potential ban over national security concerns that stem from its China-based parent company, ByteDance.
At a recent congressional hearing on worldwide threats, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that TikTok – by virtue of its more than 150 million U.S. users – has the power to “drive narratives” and “divide Americans” through the manipulation of its content algorithm. Noting that ByteDance is based in China and required by law to comply with requests made by the Chinese Communist Party, Wray said, “This is a tool that is ultimately within the control the Chinese government, and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns.”
Chew will be making his first appearance before Congress as TikTok faces an ongoing security review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS) – an interagency group that evaluates threats to U.S. national security posed by foreign investments or transactions. CFIUS has been looking into TikTok since 2019 and has reportedly threatened to ban TikTok unless ByteDance divests its stake in the platform’s U.S. operations, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
As the hearing opened, Rep. Cathy Rodgers ripped into TikTok in a scathing takedown.
Rodgers tweeted ahead of the hearing Thursday morning:
Mr. Chew is before @HouseCommerce today because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses. It appears TikTok will say anything to avoid being banned.
TikTok must be banned—and we need a national data privacy standard to protect Americans’ data from China’s next technological tool or weapon.
TikTok must be banned—and we need a national data privacy standard to protect Americans’ data from China’s next technological tool or weapon.
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) March 23, 2023
The reality is TikTok has been repeatedly caught in the lie it doesn’t answer to the Chinese Communist Party through ByteDance. We know that isn’t true. This hearing is about exposing the truth and holding Mr. Chew accountable.
The reality is TikTok has been repeatedly caught in the lie it doesn’t answer to the Chinese Communist Party through ByteDance. We know that isn’t true.
This hearing is about exposing the truth and holding Mr. Chew accountable.
— CathyMcMorrisRodgers (@cathymcmorris) March 23, 2023
WATCH LIVE COVERAGE of the hearing below:
TikTok CEO to testify as social media giant faces ban over China tieshttps://t.co/Wf1SbvRg0z
— FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) March 23, 2023
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