TikTok, the short video app, is under scanner for its alleged links with the Chinese government. While nations such as India have already banned the app, there are growing concerns in the US over data privacy too. “TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made,” CEO Shou Zi Chew’s testimony reads.
The written testimony has already been posted by the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee. However, the CEO will also testify in-person on Thursday. TikTok’s boss wants to allay the fears of American users over data privacy. The testimony also denies that the Chinese government has any control over TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. In his written statement, Chew will tell the US lawmakers that ByteDance is not an ‘agent of China.’ As the chorus grows for the TikTok ban, the Joe Biden administration has told the Chinese owners of the app to divest their stakes. The detailed written testimony is seen as a strong rebuttal by the Chinese app giant accused of passing on data to Beijing.
The testimony also talks about ‘Project Texas’. This is what TikTok claims is a $1.5 billion worth of detailed battle plan to ensure data security. This is not the first time that TikTok is facing criticism. Back in 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, had recommended ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to divest its stakes.
After the recommendation, the then-US President Donald Trump wanted to ban the app. But in order to avoid that decision, ByteDance tried to strike a deal with Oracle and Walmart the US assets of TikTok into a new entity. But Trump lost a court battle and TikTok remained ban free.
TikTok says that it has already commenced a detailed plan to delete all data of American users stored in data centres located in Singapore and Virginia. It has already moved the data to Oracle cloud in 2022. The testimony by TikTok boss says that the process will be completed by the end of this year.
Chew’s testimony says 60% of ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors including Blackrock, General Atlantic, and Sequoia, about 20% by the company’s founders, and about 20% owned by its employees “including thousands of Americans.”
(With inputs from Reuters)