TikTok is a video streaming platform where users worldwide can create an account to watch and post videos. Since the app's launch in 2018, it has grown rapidly in popularity and has become a top-tier social media platform with over one billion monthly active users. TikTok allows creators to post 15-second to three-minute videos. Compared to other forms of social media, TikTok is easier for content to become “viral.”
On Thursday, March 23, U.S. Congress met with Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok. This meeting was led by Rep. Cathay McMorris Rodgers and Rep. Frank Pallone and lasted for five hours. Congress members fired questions at Chew due to their privacy concerns and want the application banned in the United States. TikTok’s parent company is ByteDance which is located in China. People fear that the data collected from TikTok could be sold to their government due to the Chinese government's power.
Chew struggled to give concrete answers to the questions, strengthening politicians' opinions further. However, AP News states that Enberg says there “was little Chew could say to convince lawmakers that TikTok is not monitored or influenced in some way by the Chinese government.”
In Chew’s testimony, he stresses that TikTok is separate from China and that there are no tie-ins to the Chinese government. Chews states, "TikTok itself is not available in mainland China, we’re headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore, and we have 7,000 employees in the US today.”
A main concern stressed by Congress is the safety of young users. As New Jersey Rep. Frank Pallone says, “Research has found that TikTok's algorithms recommend videos to teens that create and exacerbate feelings of emotional distress, including videos promoting suicide, self-harm, and eating disorders.” Many stated their concerns that children are exposed to harmful content through TikTok.
TikTok has proposed “Project Texas,” which will cost them $1.5 billion to prevent being banned. This project would restructure TikTok’s data collection process, storing all user data at a software company in Austin, Texas. This would prevent the Chinese government from ever gaining access to the data. In the confessional meeting, Chew states how “Project Texas” has been finalized.
CEO Chew has tried to establish that there is no relationship with the Chinese government. In his opening statement, he said, “the bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel.”
However, despite Chew’s efforts, he did not seem to change lawmakers' minds at the end of these five hours. Although congress seemed unimpressed, TikTok’s users seem to have a different opinion, with many going to the Capitol to protest. One protestor and content creator, Jason Linton (@dadlifejason), said, “I use TikTok to share a love of my family and our journey through foster care and adoption, and through that, I've been able to create a community of people from all over the world," so “I’m asking our politicians: Don’t take away the community that we’ve built."
Another protestor, Naomi Hearts (@naomiheartsxo), states how TikTok has aided marginalized communities. She states, “I feel like, as a trans woman, being on this platform, I’ve had opportunities I would never have had if I had not been for TikTok.”
With congress wanting a ban on TikTok and many users wanting the opposite, what will this mean for the future of TikTok and privacy and data collection concerns?
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