TikTok CEO Chew faced in US Congress amid security concerns

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew faced the US Congress amid growing security concerns and potential Chinese government influence over the social media giant. A report claimed that the social media network still has access to data of Indian citizens despite the ban. During the questioning by the US Congress, Chew was asked how that came to be.

The TikTok app does not share data with the Chinese government and it doesn't pose a risk to its 150 million users in the US or its 150 million users in the Chinese Communist Party CCP. US lawmaker Debbie Lesko noted that India and other countries have banned TikTok in some form and that it could pose a major security risk for various countries.

Lesko said that this TikTok is a tool that is ultimately under the control of the Chinese government and screams out with national security concerns Mr Chew, how can all of these countries and our FBI director be wrong? In response, Chew said that a lot of the risks pointed out are hypothetical and theoretical risks. I haven't seen any evidence. Chew answered, This is a recent article and I asked my team to look into it. We have rigorous data access protocols. There is no way that anyone can access the tools. I disagree with a lot of the conclusions. TikTok was banned in India in June 2020 due to privacy and security concerns. India has hundreds of other Chinese apps that are claimed to pose a threat to the country's safety and privacy.