TikTok Chief Executive Shou Chew singularly failed to convince Congress that its app poses no security threat to the United States during a four-hour horror testimony and grilling.
“The bottom line is this is American data on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel,” Chew said, while never once answering unequivocally whether Chinese parent company ByteDance has access to the information.
“I don’t think that spying is the right way to describe it”, when asked about a Forbes article detailing the Chinese company spying on American journalists.
At another point, when asked “yes or no”, regarding whether Chinese employees have access to US user data, Chew said “this is a complex subject”.
“The bottom line is this is American data on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel,” Chew said.
“We aren’t buying it,” Cathy McMorris Rodgers a Washington Republican who chairs who heads the Energy and Commerce Committee, said of Chen’s arguments.
“We came here hoping to hear some action that would alleviate our concerns,” said Delaware Democrat, Lisa Blunt.
“I’ve not been reassured by anything you’ve said so far. I think quite frankly your testimony has raised more questions for me than answers.”