TikTok’s CEO has been questioned by US lawmakers over Data security and malicious content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assertions that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes the user. safety And should It is not blocked.
Xu Ziqiu’s testimony came at a critical time for The company that has 150 million US users but is under increasing pressure from US officials. TikTok and parent ByteDance has been swept up in broader geopolitics battle between Beijing and Washington over trade And technology.
in a rare bipartisan attempt to take control in the power of Basic social media platform, Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressured Chew on Host of Topics ranging from TikTok’s content moderation practices, how company plans To secure and spy on American data from Beijing on journalists.
“Mr. Qiu, you are here because the American people need the truth About the threat that TikTok poses to national Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in its opening statement. TikTok has time and again chosen the path for more controls, more observation and more manipulate.”
Chew, 40-year-old Singaporean nativeHe told the House Committee on Energy and commerce that TikTok prioritizes for safety of that it young Users denied claims that it is a file national protection risk. And he reiterated the company’s plan to protect user data in the United States by storing all of that data information on The servers it maintains and owns software Giant Oracle.
Let me make this unequivocally clear: ByteDance is not an agent of said Chiu.
On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of Famous TikTokers to Capitol Hill to pressure lawmakers to keep the platform. she has also He was placed up All ads over Washington, which pledges to secure users’ data and privacy and create a secure platform for that it young users.
TikTok has been hit by allegations that its Chinese ownership means user data could be expired up in the hands of Chinese government Or it could be used to promote favorable discourses to the country’s communist leaders.
In 2019, The Guardian reported that TikTok was instructing moderators to monitor videos that referenced Tiananmen Square and other images unfavorable to the Chinese. government. Platform says since then changed his moderate practices.
ByteDance acknowledged in December he fired four employees last summer who Data access on Two journalists and others people connected to them while trying to trace down Source of a leaked Company report.
For its part, TikTok is trying to do just that distance herself of her Chinese ancestry, saying that 60% percent of that it parent ByteDance is owned by global Institutional investors such as The Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012. In response to a Wall Street Journal report, China said it would oppose any US attempts force ByteDance to sell the app.
paid chew back against The idea that TikTok ownership was a issue in Itself.
“Trust is about the actions we take,” Chiu said. Ownership is not the essence of address these concerns.”
in one of Most Exciting Moment Republican Rep. Cat Kamack posted a video on TikTok that showed a gunfire gun and a comment containing the House Committee’s holding of the hearing, with The exact date before it is official announced.
“You expect us To believe that you are capable of Maintain data security, privacy and security of 150 million Americans where you can’t even protect people in This room,” Kamak said to Chew.
Lawmakers have sought to paint a picture of TikTok as a company influenced by China is interested in Earn profit in cost of The mental and physical health of Americans. Show committee members adding of TikTok videos that encouraged users to self-harm and commit suicide. Many have wondered why the platform’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, doesn’t have the same controversial and potentially dangerous content as an American producer.
Chiu replied that it depends on Laws of The country where the application is located operating. He said the company has about 40,000 moderators who track the malicious content In addition to the algorithm informs material.
“I don’t think I can sit here and say we are perfect in said Chiu. “We do work very hard. “
US ban on The application will be unprecedented and inconspicuous how the government You will impose it.
Experts say officials may try it force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. The United States can also roadblock access To the infrastructure and data of TikTok, seize its domain names or force Providers of the World Wide Web or the Internet like Ahmad Ghabour, a criminal law f computer security expert who He teaches at Boston University School of Law.
But the tech-Loyal user can still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it visible to the user in Another country where it is not banned, he said.
to avoid Banned, TikTok tries to sell officials on A $1.5 billion plan called Project Texas, which routes all user data in the US to local servers owned and operated by Oracle. under project and access Data to the US is managed by US employees through a separate entity called TikTok US Data Security, which employs 1,500 people. peopleHe is run Independently of ByteDance will be watching by outside observers.
like of October, everything new US user data is stored within the country. This month, the company began deleting all historical US user data from non-Oracle servers. in The process is expected to be completed later this year, Qiu said.
Overall, the researchers said TikTok is behaving like last social media companies when it comes to data collection. In the analysis released in 2021, University of Nonprofit Citizen Lab in Toronto found TikTok and Facebook collect similar amounts of User data.
To prevent this tracking, Congress, the White House, the US Armed Forces and more from half of US states banned use of app from official hardware.
But erase all associated tracking data with Primary law prove difficult. In a report released this month, cybersecurity firm Virut said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect users informationHe was found on 30 US state locations, including one where the app was banned.
last countries Including Denmark, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, along with European Union already TikTok is banned from devices issued for government employees.
David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs TrustedSec cybersecurity company agrees with TikTok restriction access on government- Released phones as they may contain sensitive files information. However, he said the nationwide ban could be too severe.
We have a Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. They are going to start ban us Now?” Kennedy said. “It can escalate very quickly.”
TikTok’s CEO has been questioned by US lawmakers over Data security and malicious content Thursday, responding skeptically during a tense committee hearing to his assertions that the hugely popular video-sharing app prioritizes the user. safety And should It is not blocked.
Xu Ziqiu’s testimony came at a critical time for The company that has 150 million US users but is under increasing pressure from US officials. TikTok and parent ByteDance has been swept up in broader geopolitics battle between Beijing and Washington over trade And technology.
in a rare bipartisan attempt to take control in the power of Basic social media platform, Republican and Democratic lawmakers pressured Chew on Host of Topics ranging from TikTok’s content moderation practices, how company plans To secure and spy on American data from Beijing on journalists.
“Mr. Qiu, you are here because the American people need the truth About the threat that TikTok poses to national Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican, said in its opening statement. TikTok has time and again chosen the path for more controls, more observation and more manipulate.”
Chew, 40-year-old Singaporean nativeHe told the House Committee on Energy and commerce that TikTok prioritizes for safety of that it young Users denied claims that it is a file national protection risk. And he reiterated the company’s plan to protect user data in the United States by storing all of that data information on The servers it maintains and owns software Giant Oracle.
Let me make this unequivocally clear: ByteDance is not an agent of said Chiu.
On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of Famous TikTokers to Capitol Hill to pressure lawmakers to keep the platform. she has also He was placed up All ads over Washington, which pledges to secure users’ data and privacy and create a secure platform for that it young users.
TikTok has been hit by allegations that its Chinese ownership means user data could be expired up in the hands of Chinese government Or it could be used to promote favorable discourses to the country’s communist leaders.
In 2019, The Guardian reported that TikTok was instructing moderators to monitor videos that referenced Tiananmen Square and other images unfavorable to the Chinese. government. Platform says since then changed his moderate practices.
ByteDance acknowledged in December he fired four employees last summer who Data access on Two journalists and others people connected to them while trying to trace down Source of a leaked Company report.
For its part, TikTok is trying to do just that distance herself of her Chinese ancestry, saying that 60% percent of that it parent ByteDance is owned by global Institutional investors such as The Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012. In response to a Wall Street Journal report, China said it would oppose any US attempts force ByteDance to sell the app.
paid chew back against The idea that TikTok ownership was a issue in Itself.
“Trust is about the actions we take,” Chiu said. Ownership is not the essence of address these concerns.”
in one of Most Exciting Moment Republican Rep. Cat Kamack posted a video on TikTok that showed a gunfire gun and a comment containing the House Committee’s holding of the hearing, with The exact date before it is official announced.
“You expect us To believe that you are capable of Maintain data security, privacy and security of 150 million Americans where you can’t even protect people in This room,” Kamak said to Chew.
Lawmakers have sought to paint a picture of TikTok as a company influenced by China is interested in Earn profit in cost of The mental and physical health of Americans. Show committee members adding of TikTok videos that encouraged users to self-harm and commit suicide. Many have wondered why the platform’s Chinese counterpart, Douyin, doesn’t have the same controversial and potentially dangerous content as an American producer.
Chiu replied that it depends on Laws of The country where the application is located operating. He said the company has about 40,000 moderators who track the malicious content In addition to the algorithm informs material.
“I don’t think I can sit here and say we are perfect in said Chiu. “We do work very hard. “
US ban on The application will be unprecedented and inconspicuous how the government You will impose it.
Experts say officials may try it force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores. The United States can also roadblock access To the infrastructure and data of TikTok, seize its domain names or force Providers of the World Wide Web or the Internet like Ahmad Ghabour, a criminal law f computer security expert who He teaches at Boston University School of Law.
But the tech-Loyal user can still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it visible to the user in Another country where it is not banned, he said.
to avoid Banned, TikTok tries to sell officials on A $1.5 billion plan called Project Texas, which routes all user data in the US to local servers owned and operated by Oracle. under project and access Data to the US is managed by US employees through a separate entity called TikTok US Data Security, which employs 1,500 people. peopleHe is run Independently of ByteDance will be watching by outside observers.
like of October, everything new US user data is stored within the country. This month, the company began deleting all historical US user data from non-Oracle servers. in The process is expected to be completed later this year, Qiu said.
Overall, the researchers said TikTok is behaving like last social media companies when it comes to data collection. In the analysis released in 2021, University of Nonprofit Citizen Lab in Toronto found TikTok and Facebook collect similar amounts of User data.
To prevent this tracking, Congress, the White House, the US Armed Forces and more from half of US states banned use of app from official hardware.
But erase all associated tracking data with Primary law prove difficult. In a report released this month, cybersecurity firm Virut said so-called tracking pixels from ByteDance, which collect users informationHe was found on 30 US state locations, including one where the app was banned.
last countries Including Denmark, Canada, Great Britain and New Zealand, along with European Union already TikTok is banned from devices issued for government employees.
David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs TrustedSec cybersecurity company agrees with TikTok restriction access on government- Released phones as they may contain sensitive files information. However, he said the nationwide ban could be too severe.
We have a Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. They are going to start ban us Now?” Kennedy said. “It can escalate very quickly.”