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TikTok CEO Shou Chew sought to protect his company from a potential US ban or forced sale during a four-and-a-half hour congressional hearing that rarely deviated from the hostile note on which it began.
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“Your platform should be banned,” Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said at the opening. “I expect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome.”
Rodgers made a point of telling Chew he was under oath and obligated to tell the truth. Other lawmakers repeated that warning during the long-awaited hearing on Thursday, underscoring how little trust there was between the panel and its witness. While that made for a one-note performance, there were several memorable moments:
China made its stance clear beforehand
The most important developments may have happened before the hearing. During a press briefing in Beijing, Commerce Ministry spokesperson Shu Jueting said China’s government would have to approve any sale to a US entity. That statement undermined whatever assurances Chew might have been able to give about how the platform secures US data.
It also added rocket fuel to attacks on the platform from lawmakers, who were already set to excoriate Chew and his company for concerns over data security and content moderation policies as well as the effect of the app on the 150 million people in the US who use it for more than an hour-and-a-half per day on average.
