TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew will face attacks on multiple fronts when he testifies before Congress on Thursday, in an appearance that will help to determine the social media app’s future in the US.Bipartisan calls to ban the platform have grown over fears it could be used by the Chinese Communist party for espionage or propaganda purposes. However, the 40-year-old will tell the energy and commerce committee of the House of Representatives that TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, based in Beijing, is “not an agent of China”, according to prepared remarks released in advance of the hearing.
ByteDance has also been asked by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (Cfius) — an inter-agency panel that evaluates foreign investment — to sell TikTok in the US in order to distance it from Beijing. This came even after it spent around $2bn on a partnership with Oracle designed to safeguard data and content from Chinese influence.
“TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but has evolved into a global enterprise since its founding,” Chew will say, adding that TikTok has not shared and would not share data on its 150mn US users with China.