‘Your Platform Should Be Banned’: Congress Grills TikTok CEO on CCP Ties

The CEO of TikTok and members of Congress are having a number of contentious discussions about the app’s connections to the socialist government in China while the House is holding hearings on the apps’ data privacy policies.

In an effort to defend the company’s data privacy policies and ties to the Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ), which controls China as a single-party state, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is making his first appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing in history.

The hearing began with several volleys denouncing TikTok’s ties to the Chinese communist government through its China-based parent company ByteDance from Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers( R – Wash ).

According to Rodgers,” CCP laws require Taiwanese businesses like ByteDance to sight on their behalf.” Therefore, any Chinese industry is required to include access to and manipulation of the CCP in its design specifications.

The Chinese Communist Party ( CCP ) is able to use TikTok to manipulate America as a whole because it” surveils us all.” We don’t believe TikTok did actually uphold American values.

Director tries to avoid ByteDance.

The reading is taking place as Congress and the Biden administration look into the options of either forcing TikTok to be sold to an American business or outright banning the game from the country due to concerns about national security.

Chew has made an effort to separate TikTok’s reputation from that of the China-based ByteDance, but he has a close relationship with the business having formerly held the position of chief financial officer in Beijing.

Similar to this, The Information initially reported that Chew is one of only 12 professionals who report right to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo.

Additionally, when Chew arrived for the hearing, he was accompanied by well-known ByteDance activists, including Michael Beckerman, and their obvious separateness was on complete display. Beckerman, who is TikTok’s top public relations genuine, eventually uses ByteDance to report his activities to the American government.

Chew initially ducked when Rep. Gary Palmer( R-Ala. ) questioned him about Beckerman’s presence and his prior denials of the ongoing Uyghur genocide in the Xinjiang region of China.

Could you please explain who you mean? Chew enquired.

You are aware that he is here, Palmer said. He is seated directly behind you.

Chew eventually changed his mind and acknowledged that Beckerman was one of the staff members who had helped him get ready for the congressional audience.

Similar to TikTok, Chew repeatedly insisted that ByteDance was a worldwide enterprise with operations in China in an effort to further conceal its ties to the CCP.

Beijing is the location of ByteDance’s headquarters, which also houses a CCP club commission.

When questioned about whether TikTok’s information would ever be provided to the CCP as a result of Chinese laws mandating that all data be turned over to government upon demand, Chew once more disputed the assertion.

Chew more asserted that ByteDance was never owned by the CCP in any way and that it was” definitely misleading” that TikTok was subject to any Chinese guidelines.

Chew asserted that ByteDance is truly a representative of China or any other nation.

It is not controlled or owned by any state or government agency.

Chew’s assertion is in conflict with a statement that stated in 2021 that the CCP had invested directly in ByteDance Beijing Technology. A board director for ByteDance’s Beijing work could also be appointed right by the socialist government thanks to that agreement.

Chew appeared to refuse knowing about the CCP choice when questioned right about it.

This hasn’t occurred, Chew said.

There is” Zero Confidence” in Congress in TikTok.

Chew’s clear refusal to acknowledge its connection to ByteDance and, eventually, the CCP alarmed Chair Rodgers.

In order to support her claim, she cited the CCP’s ministry of commerce spokesperson, who the denounced the idea of selling TikTok to an American business just hours prior to Chew. She also claimed that the socialist government would ultimately decide whether to force a forced sale.

According to Rodgers,” The CCP thinks they have the last state in your business.”

” I have zero faith in your claim that TikTok and ByteDance are never subject to the CCP.”

The” internal party committee” of ByteDance has received warnings from several organizations. Professionals” regularly gather to research President Xi Jinping’s remarks and commitment to follow the event in modern development ,” according to the advocacy group Human Rights Watch, which is presided over by ByteDance Vice President Zhang Fuping.

Chew worked as an executive at Xiaomi Technology, a Beijing-based business that the Pentagon later referred to as” communist Chinese military company ,” before becoming the CFO of ByteDance.

Chew also served on the board of directors at Kingsoft Cloud, which was designated as a threat to” national protection” in January 2021.

In order to achieve this, Rodgers claimed that the company had shown a persistent commitment to advance the party lines of the regime and to use its influence and power rather than take the necessary precautions to safeguard American citizens.

According to Rodgers,” TikTok has frequently chosen the path for more control, more tracking, and more handling.”

” Your base ought to be prohibited.”