TikTok has a plan to avoid getting banned in the US

AppleInsider · March 22, 2023 12:53PM

TikTok CEO Shou Chew has presented written testimony ahead of meeting the US House Energy and Commerce Committee to discuss accusations around the platform's ties to China.

TikTok on a smartphone

Chew is appearing in front of the committee on March 23, 2023, in order to address concerns about TikTok's ownership, and its collection of user data. These are issues that have already led to the House of Representatives ordering the removal of TikTok from its staff phones, and to an increasing likelihood of an outright ban.

CEO Shou Chew will answer questions from the committee, but he has already presented his case in a 5,000-word written testimony. In it, he argues that not only is TikTok popular in the US, but it is responsible for bringing worldwide "exposure to American musicians, artists, chefs, and many more."

"While users in the United States represent 10 percent of our global community," he writes, "their voice accounts for 25 percent of the total views around the world."

Chew also stresses how TikTok prides itself on "being a platform that helps [US] companies.. many of them small businesses... thrive." He says that over 150 million Americans use the platform, "and we know we have a responsibility to protect them."

Consequently, his testimony is split into emphasizing what specific steps the company is doing to address US concerns -- and to denying Chinese connections.

"Let me state this unequivocally," he continues, "[TikTok owner] ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country."

Addressing US concerns

Describing the company's "Project Texas," Chew says that it involves his firm having "contracted with Oracle... to store TikTok's US user data" on servers within the US.

"Moreover, Oracle has already begun inspecting TikTok's source code and will have unprecedented access to the related algorithms and data models," he continues. "No other social media company, or entertainment platform like TikTok, provides this level of access and transparency."

TikTok is still transitioning to Oracle, which means it is currently also "deleting historical protected US user data stored on non-Oracle servers." When this is complete, later in 2023, Chew says, there will be "no way for the Chinese government to access [US user data] or compel access to it."

He also denies that China has ever requested data, plus he says TikTok would refuse if it were asked.

Chew argues that a ban onTikTok "hurts American small businesses, damages the country's economy, silences the voices of over 150 million Americans, and reduces competition in an increasingly concentrated market."

"Bans are only appropriate when there are no alternatives," he continues. "But we do have an alternative one that we believe addresses the concerns we've heard from this Committee and others."

That plan centers on four commitments. "We will keep safety -- particularly for teenagers -- a top priority for us," says Chew. "We will firewall protected US user data from unauthorized foreign access."

"Tiktok will remain a platform for free expression and will not be manipulated by any government," he says. And finally, "we will be transparent and give access to third-party independent monitors, to remain accountable for our commitments."

Much of Chew's position in the new testimony is, as he points out, the same that he has been discussing with the committee and other parties, particularly concerning Project Texas.

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dewme · March 22, 2023 2:26PM

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

jbdragon · March 22, 2023 2:57PM

I haven't used TikTok ever and have no plans to ever use it. I don't think it should be banned anywhere than from Government use. Then again I don't think government phones just have much of anything on it, then what is required. You have your Government phone for work, you have your own personal phone for outside of work.

ihatescreennames · March 22, 2023 3:10PM

I also haven’t used and have no plans to use TikTok and whatever happens to it matters little to me. We frequently see articles here mentioning that people/politicians are concerned with the amount of user data TikTok collects. I have yet to see anything that spells out what that data is and why it’s more of a concern with TikTok than it is with any other app that comes out of China. I’d like to see a little more clearly what those concerns are based on.

I completely agree that government devices should be free of any app that isn’t directly related to doing the job.

sflocal · March 22, 2023 3:21PM

I deleted my TikTok account months ago, and even then was only a TikTok user for about a year prior.

It was a cesspool of misinformation and toxic to a degree that it started affecting my mental health. It brings out the ugliness of people.

While I’m not necessarily a fan of government oversight, I believe the CCP definitely has an agenda with messing with the brains of those users. The CEO is full of BS.

sdw2001 · March 22, 2023 3:53PM

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

I don't agree that politicians pushing a ban are "authoritarian," nor do I agree with comparing them to the actual authoritarians in the EU who seek to mandate USB-C and possibly ban the iPhone.

TikTok is a national security threat. It is a serious threat to our youth. You have a company with deep ties to the CCP. The Western version of TikTok uses algorithms that push users towards sex, drugs, etc. Meanwhile, the Chinese version algorithms push positive and productive content (organized dance, national pride, etc.). User data is being collected in droves and obviously is accessed by the CCP. The CCP is getting detailed user data on hundreds of millions of people. Their goal is to eventually supplant the U.S. as the global superpower, with the intermediate goal of usurping us (and our alliances) in their sphere.

Now, I'm not making the argument to ban it per se. However, I certainly understand the argument to do so. Obviously, a ban on a such a popular app would be major and virtually unprecedented step. I don't know exactly how it would be implemented, either. It will be interesting to see what happens. I don know there is bipartisan support for it.

tape · March 22, 2023 5:30PM

sflocal said:

I deleted my TikTok account months ago, and even then was only a TikTok user for about a year prior.

It was a cesspool of misinformation and toxic to a degree that it started affecting my mental health. It brings out the ugliness of people.

While I’m not necessarily a fan of government oversight, I believe the CCP definitely has an agenda with messing with the brains of those users. The CEO is full of BS.

I've found it to be the exact opposite. With that said, the videos you get shown by the algorithm are chosen based on the accounts you follow, the videos you've liked and commented, and also videos you watch. If you watch and interact with negative posts, you're going to get shown more of them. I guess I just watch wholesome content and do my best to ignore the toxic stuff when it comes up 🤷

waveparticle · March 22, 2023 5:33PM

sdw2001 said:

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

I don't agree that politicians pushing a ban are "authoritarian," nor do I agree with comparing them to the actual authoritarians in the EU who seek to mandate USB-C and possibly ban the iPhone.

TikTok is a national security threat. It is a serious threat to our youth. You have a company with deep ties to the CCP. The Western version of TikTok uses algorithms that push users towards sex, drugs, etc. Meanwhile, the Chinese version algorithms push positive and productive content (organized dance, national pride, etc.). User data is being collected in droves and obviously is accessed by the CCP. The CCP is getting detailed user data on hundreds of millions of people. Their goal is to eventually supplant the U.S. as the global superpower, with the intermediate goal of usurping us (and our alliances) in their sphere.

Now, I'm not making the argument to ban it per se. However, I certainly understand the argument to do so. Obviously, a ban on a such a popular app would be major and virtually unprecedented step. I don't know exactly how it would be implemented, either. It will be interesting to see what happens. I don know there is bipartisan support for it.

Is this your personal experience or ur imagination or you heard from someone else?

paxman · March 22, 2023 5:42PM

Long live the free market.... wait, what?

chasm · March 22, 2023 5:51PM

I think that if Tik Tok is required (or self-imposes) these privacy and security rules on itself, then something Congress could do that would actually be useful is mandate that ALL social networks have to adhere to the same standards.

I’m very amused by non-users who have no idea about the service, as seen above, providing a bunch of beliefs about TikTok they probably got from xenophobic radio and TV hosts, whereas the CEO of TikTok has provided a bunch of facts about what it does and doesn’t do. I doubt such people can even tell the difference anymore.

I’m not a TikTok user, and have zero plans to be — but I do have to be on the other big two social networks for business reasons. If you don’t think that what Google, Twitter, and Meta/Facebook collect and do with users’ information (and the way they use that manipulate users) is as bad or worse than TikTok, you have bought in to propaganda … and not from the CCP.

If Congress made these US companies follow the same restrictions TikTok is voluntarily adhering to, they’d be out of business within the year.

japhey · March 22, 2023 7:20PM

150 million Americans use the platform? I’m sorry, but that’s a bullshit number and an outright lie. Maybe there are 150 million accounts in America, where many people might have more than one. Maybe. I sincerely doubt it, but maybe. Or maybe many of those people joined up and quit 5 minutes later. Maybe. But to suggest that half of our nation uses TikTok is hilarious. And before you ask Wavy, I do not have any proof of what i am saying other than the common sense logic that my own observations provide.

Then there are the 4 “Commitments”, of which number 3 states: “Tiktok will remain a platform for free expression and will not be manipulated by any government.” They come up with this nugget and say it with a straight face to the House only after they face being banned. Not before. So, they are promising not to be manipulated by “any” government while they are literally being manipulated by a government. Hmmm…

Top to bottom, his entire testimony is comedy hour.

edited March 2023

blastdoor · March 22, 2023 7:29PM

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

One of the view things that lots of Ds and Rs agree on is that China is a massive threat to national security. If a ban happens, I think it will be seen as an effort to protect our democracy against a truly authoritarian regime. If a clear majority of citizens support an action of a democratically elected government then, by definition, that action is not authoritarian. One could still argue about whether it's wise or ethical, but it's not authoritarian. Just because you personally don't like something doesn't make it authoritarian.

roundaboutnow · March 22, 2023 9:16PM

Maybe this is just "whataboutism," but doesn't China ban Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Google?

(I know VPNs can allow access to those apps, at least that's what I saw a few years ago when traveling in China, but still...)

hexclock · March 22, 2023 9:20PM

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

Millions of us were forced to wear masks and be injected multiple times with an experimental vaccine or risk being fired. They are in the processes of banning gas stoves, gas powered cars and equipment. They monitor and record everything.

The authoritarians are already here.

dewme · March 22, 2023 10:04PM

roundaboutnow said:

Maybe this is just "whataboutism," but doesn't China ban Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Google?

(I know VPNs can allow access to those apps, at least that's what I saw a few years ago when traveling in China, but still...)

Do we really want to benchmark our country against China?

No.

bittyson · March 22, 2023 10:12PM

Why would anyone believe this guy?

chasm · March 22, 2023 11:22PM

BittySon said:

Why would anyone believe this guy?

Because he ,,, has proof of the code audit and data-storage program. Did you not read the part about Oracle?

You can check with them if you like. It’s not hard to reach their PR department.

viclauyyc · March 22, 2023 11:49PM

They can just asking him one question and to shut him up. “If CCP ask ByteDance to hand over US/EU user data, will and can they refuse”

The answer is simple, NO. There is a Chinese law stated Chinese companies will be required to obey whatever CCP/government ask them to do. Even it is against other Chinese law.

Before calling US/EU hypothetic or dictatorship, can any outside social media company operate in China freely. The answer is no. Not even Chinese media companies/ByteDance can operate freely in China.

A more fair request is if CCP open up Chinese markets to foreign media companies than US/EU should allow Tiktok to operate in the West. But you already know it is impossible.

9secondkox2 · March 23, 2023 12:08AM

Tik tok is a spy tool for China. Period. Just because gullible users agree to it doesn’t make it ok.

If the current admin had any backbone, this would be done a while ago.

roundaboutnow · March 23, 2023 12:20AM

dewme said:

roundaboutnow said:

Maybe this is just "whataboutism," but doesn't China ban Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and even Google?

(I know VPNs can allow access to those apps, at least that's what I saw a few years ago when traveling in China, but still...)

Do we really want to benchmark our country against China?

No.

I guess I should have elaborated a bit. I share the concern you mention in another post regarding authoritarian overreach. I'm not saying just because they ban things we can too. Quite the opposite actually.

edited March 2023

longfang · March 23, 2023 1:06AM

blastdoor said:

dewme said:

It will be interesting to see how this plays out if the US actually goes through with a ban. There are probably around 100 million TikTok users in the US alone. Any blanket edict that affects that number of users is going to be seen as wildly Authoritarian and overreaching. It’s along the same lines as the EU threatening to ban iPhones if Apple doesn’t comply with their edicts. I believe Apple sells around 100 million phones a year in the EU.

These Authoritarian threats are being waved around by what are actually a very small number of individuals who feel emboldened by their positions of authority. But in most cases these people and groups are completely ignoring the preferences and choices held by hundreds of millions of people who would be impacted by the power plays being conducted by these small Authoritarian rule makers.

Does anyone think that 100 million EU residents would simply let themselves be forced to purchase a POS Android phone if the iPhone was “banned” by a small group of Authoritarians, many of whom are elected? I don’t see that happening. But of course Apple isn’t going to test those waters and will succumb to the Authoritarians living out their best lives/fantasies as big bad power players.

One of the view things that lots of Ds and Rs agree on is that China is a massive threat to national security. If a ban happens, I think it will be seen as an effort to protect our democracy against a truly authoritarian regime. If a clear majority of citizens support an action of a democratically elected government then, by definition, that action is not authoritarian. One could still argue about whether it's wise or ethical, but it's not authoritarian. Just because you personally don't like something doesn't make it authoritarian.

If by threat to National Security you mean becoming more economically successful than the equivalent US company then yeah I agree.

TikTok has a plan to avoid getting banned in the US

Addressing US concerns

Comments