TikTok Testimony

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is testifying for the first time before a House committee today on how the Chinese-owned video platform plans to address US national security concerns. Chew's pledges (see prepared remarks, click "view agenda") include TikTok building a firewall to safeguard US user data from unauthorized foreign access and establishing a new entity to oversee that data. Watch the hearing here (10 am ET).

Officials say TikTok, which has over 150 million monthly active American users, could be used by Beijing to collect individual private data, and have warned its owner, ByteDance, to give up its stake in the US operations or face a ban on the app. A similar call to ban TikTok came in 2020 from then-President Donald Trump, ultimately fizzling after he left office.

More than a dozen countries have introduced full, partial, or public sector bans on TikTok. In the US, federal and even some state agencies have been directed to remove the app from government devices. Analysts say a full national ban on TikTok could mean a forced removal from the Google and Apple app stores, barring new users and limiting access to current ones.