TikTok CEO Xu Qiu testifies before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce Thursday morning in Washington to allay congressional national security concerns.
The head of TikTok is trying to convince lawmakers that the app, which has 150 million users in the United States alone, does not pose a threat to Americans and does not share data with the Chinese government.
In particular, with this testimony, it is clear that Chiu is facing an absurd battle against the backdrop of the chances that key lawmakers on the commission have already made their decision.
For its part, the Chinese government warned against selling TikTok and said the move would undermine foreign investors’ confidence in the United States.
Beijing said, “We will strongly oppose any U.S. action aimed at forcing TikTok owners to sell it.”
Earlier this week, Republican aides on the committee told reporters that Republican Committee Chair Katie McMorris Rogers wants to ban TikTok in America.
The Republican aide suggested that Xu could not convince the committee that TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, could protect Americans’ data from the Chinese Communist Party in the absence of a ban or forced sale.
James Lewis of the Center for Strategic and International Studies told POLITICO that the hearing would be “heated unless Qiu makes concessions.”
“So far, TikTok has been unwilling to succumb to the whims of lawmakers, and I don’t feel like it is ready to do so in a hearing,” Lewis added.
And TikTok’s CEO has announced that he wants to overcome what he called a crisis of “distrust” in lawmakers. However, major proponents of legislation to limit TikTok’s influence in the US emphasize the need for TikTok to comply with all lawmakers’ demands.
Democratic Senator Mark Warner, chairman of the Congressional Intelligence Committee, commented: “While I appreciate Mr. Chiu’s willingness to answer questions before Congress, TikTok’s lack of transparency, repeated opacity, and misrepresentation of facts have seriously undermined the credibility of any of the company’s claims. employees.”
And earlier this month, Warner introduced a restrictions bill that gives the federal government the power to restrict and potentially block the app.
House Foreign Affairs Chair, Republican Representative Michael McCall, who helped enforce a bill that could ban TikTok on mobile devices in America, confirmed that the only solution he sees is for byteDance to “completely relinquish control of TikTok and take control of application. “.
And if TikTok is banned, “the politician in me believes you will literally lose every voter under 35 forever,” says Gina Raymond, secretary of commerce in the administration of US President Joe Biden.
