Shou Zi Chew

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23, 2023, amid a chorus of calls from members of Congress for the federal government to ban the Chinese-owned video social media app and reports that the Biden administration is pushing for the company's sale. The federal government, along with many state and foreign governments and some companies, has banned TikTok on work-provided phones. This type of ban can be effective for protecting data related to government work.But a full…

TikTok is under scrutiny in the US. Last week, the Biden administration reportedly demanded that TikTok’s Chinese owner, ByteDance, sell the app or face a possible ban in the country. China has now responded to those reports saying that it would strongly oppose any forced sale of TikTok.“If the news is true, China will firmly oppose it,” Shu Jueting, a spokesperson of China’s Commerce Ministry, was quoted as saying. She added that a sale or divestiture of TikTok would involve exporting technology and had to be approved by…

WASHINGTON—House lawmakers pummeled TikTok’s chief executive over the popular app’s ties to China, just hours after Beijing said it would fight any U.S. attempt to force the company’s sale by its Chinese owners.The hearing Thursday, peppered with withering attacks on TikTok from both Democrats and Republicans, ran more than five hours and underscored growing concerns about Beijing’s potential influence over the app. It pushed TikTok to the forefront of U.S.-China relations, which already are frayed over trade, Taiwan,…

In a combative hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew tacitly admitted the company sells user data.“I believe we do not sell data to any data brokers,” Chew said in response to a question from congressman Frank Pallone. “I didn’t ask you about data brokers, Pallone said. “Do you sell it to anyone?”“Congressman, I actually am in support of some rules...” Chew responded before another interruption from Pallone. “I didn’t ask you about rules, I asked you whether the company…

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday. If there’s anyone left in Congress or the American public who hasn’t made up their minds about the ultra-popular short-form app, the executive will attempt to sway them to his side.The app is already banned on government devices, and President Joe Biden has threatened to ban TikTok nationwide if ByteDance doesn’t sell it to a non-Chinese entity. Since the Trump administration, the American government has been threatening…

WASHINGTON—TikTok launched a battalion of influencers in the nation’s capital Wednesday to send a message to Congress: Banning the app would be met with widespread popular opposition.  “TikTok is not a children’s dancing app,” said Aidan Kohn-Murphy, a college freshman with close to 300,000 TikTok followers and founder of the advocacy group Gen-Z for Change. “It is one of the most powerful tools that young people have to engage each other and to get civically involved.”  Mr.…

On Thursday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before Congress, marking his highest-profile speaking opportunity to date. He wants you to hear this message: TikTok is not a threat, and it has become too important to too many Americans to ban.TikTok is locked in a battle with the US government over the app’s privacy and security. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Beijing-based company, and thus could be forced to hand data over to the Chinese Communist Party. Some critics worry the app could also be used to spread…

With a nationwide TikTok ban on the table, the app that has brought us so much comfort (and endless scrolling) is shifting its approach to content moderation. Today, TikTok unveiled new content moderation policies that vaguely target AI-generated content and climate misinformation ahead of CEO Shou Zi Chew’s appearance in front of Congress later this week.TikTok announced the “refreshed” Community Guidelines this morning, which will take effect on the app on April 21. Notably, TikTok has now clamped down on deepfakes,…

The BBC has 4.4 million followers on TikTok, and it posts new videos every couple of hours on its main account. If you work at the venerable British broadcaster, however, the organization says you shouldn’t watch those TikToks. The BBC sent its employees a memo on Sunday, urging them not to download the world’s scariest Chinese app.“We don’t recommend installing TikTok on a BBC corporate device unless there is a justified business reason,” the BBC wrote to staffers, according to Bloomberg. “If you do not need TikTok for…

WASHINGTON—TikTok’s boss has a message for the Biden administration and Congress: A sale won’t resolve America’s national-security concerns over the popular video app.Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew said in an interview that divesting the company from its Chinese owners—a move the U.S. is now demanding—doesn’t offer any more protection than a multibillion-dollar plan TikTok has already proposed. The plan involves hiring an American partner, Oracle Corp. , to…