On Thursday, Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO, said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing that “spying” is not the right word for alleged Chinese surveillance of Americans using his company’s social media platform. Apparently good at dodging questions, Chew said very little, keeping his comment to what he could say apparently holding back what he likely should say, in response to the questions put to him.
At the meeting, Rep. Neal Dunn (R) FL referred to a report that the FBI and Justice Department provided that reveals that they are investigating ByteDance (the parent company of TikTok) after the company acknowledged firing four employees, for using the controversial app to track the location of two journalists in the United States. When Dunn directly asked Chew if TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has spied on American citizens, Chew replied-
“I don’t think that ‘spying’ is the right way to describe it,”
-Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO
In a report last week-
“After ByteDance admitted that its employees had improperly accessed the data of U.S. users, congressional critics began to express concerns about TikTok’s surveillance practices. Forbes reports that the DOJ has served subpoenas to ByteDance. However, it’s still unclear how far the investigation into the incident has gone. The FBI has also interviewed people in connection with the matter, though it is not yet clear if these interviews are a part of the same investigation.”
“In a statement, a ByteDance spokesperson addressed the issue, stating, “We have strongly condemned the actions of the individuals found to have been involved, and they are no longer employed at ByteDance.” The spokesperson also confirmed that the company’s internal investigation is ongoing, and ByteDance is committed to cooperating with any official investigations when brought to them.”
- Lucas Nolan, Breitbart News
At the same meeting, Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-IA) ask Chew - “Does TikTok track users’ individual keystrokes?”, to which Chew responded by stating-
“Only for security purposes, for example, like detecting bots.”
-Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO
Further when Miller-Meeks asked Chew to clarify why monitoring keystrokes would be the only reason they would “… monitor keystrokes…for security purposes,” Chew replied-
“I can get back to you on the specifics,”
-Shou Zi Chew, TikTok CEO
By claiming other companies behave in a similar way, Chew deflected further questioning at the time. However, actually, while some might agree with Chew’s claims that U.S. social media companies engage in the same behavior as TikTok, the real difference is, that U.S. companies can be held responsible under U.S. laws. This can take the form of action by Congress or regulators, whereas the same is not possible with TikTok.
In Washington, DC, as lawmakers continue to consider if the legislative branch needs to pursue an outright ban of TikTok, or privacy legislation, to address the concerns surrounding the popular yet controversial app., concerns over the national security and privacy implications of TikTok have reached a fever pitch. Some other lawmakers have called for separating TikTok from ByteDance.
Other lawmakers during the hearing, spoke against Tiktok in statements such as-
According to a recent interview with GMA3, “What You Need to Know”, Keith Krach, former Trump official warned that TikTok tracking users with their keystrokes. He warned -
“That means they have access to your passwords, all your data, they have access to your health records, your bank records, they have access to your geopolitical information or your geospatial information,” and “That means that they can track where you are, where you’ve been, and where you’re going.”…“Look at it as a digital virus,” adding… “And the only cure for this; the only vaccine for this is a total ban.”
-Keith Krach
In the hope that Congress will get to the bottom of what the Chinese government is being successful at doing, to the detriment of Americans, this TikTok app., if banned, will be a move in the right direction. Too much uncertainty exists in its’ use by Americans. That it could possibly be responsible for the deaths of American teens and children, should be question enough to see it banned. Like Fentanyl, which is also produced by the Chinese and makes it over our borders to kill hundreds of thousands – America doesn’t need an app. with the same possible capability. Moreover, that this App. puts American security at risk, means it needs stopped altogether.
“It is okay to own a technology, what is not okay is to be owned by technology.”
-Abhijit Naskar,