The head of the popular video-sharing app TikTok, owned by a Chinese company, Zhou Jichu appeared before the US Congress, where he was questioned by congressmen for four and a half hours over allegations that TikTok was handing over user data to the Chinese government.
Cathy McMorris Rogers, head of the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee, spoke strongly about the company: “TikTok collects almost every possible data, from where people are to what they write and copy, who they talk to, biometrics and more.” others. Even if they’ve never visited TikTok, your tracking capabilities are built into sites all over the web. TikTok is tracking us all, and the Chinese Communist Party can use it as a tool to manipulate all of America. We don’t believe that TikTok ” will ever embrace American values, values of freedom, human rights and innovation.
TikTok has repeatedly chosen a path of greater control, surveillance and manipulation. Your platform should be banned.”
Both Democratic and Republican congressmen approached TikTok with suspicion, asking questions about data security and generally expressing the position that they consider the platform a security threat.
The head of “TikTok” rejected all accusations as unfounded and insisted that the company guarantees the security of data of US users.
“There are more than 150 million Americans who love our platform, and we know we have a responsibility to protect them.
Therefore, I will undertake the following justice towards you and all our users. First, safety will remain our top priority, especially for teenagers. Second, we will protect US data from unwanted foreign access. Third, TikTok will remain a place of free speech and will not be manipulated by any government. And fourth, being accountable for our commitments, we will be transparent and provide access to third-party independent monitors,” said Zhou Dzichu.
The platform “TikTok” belongs to the Chinese technology company “ByteDance”. The US Congress has also said that in order for the platform to continue operating in the US, the Chinese owners would have to sell their shares in the company.
In Beijing, the Foreign Ministry said it strongly opposed any forced sales and repeatedly rejected allegations that private companies were forced to hand over private data to Chinese government authorities.
CONTEXT:
Concerned about security, the US, Canada, and the European Commission are banning employees of government institutions from using the popular social network “TikTok” on their work smart devices. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia has also banned “TikTok” on work phones.
TikTok, owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, has become a fast-growing competitor to US-based social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube.
Suspicions are growing in Western countries that the Chinese government could use TikTok for its own interests and obtain user data from the app.
China calls this action excessive. TikTok promises it would never comply with a Chinese government order to reveal user data. But many question this claim given the nature of China’s authoritarian regime.
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