Dwell updates: TikTok CEO to testify as Congress weighs a ban on the app

Cristiano Lima

Tech publication reporter anchoring The Know-how 202, specializing in politics and coverage.

March 23 at 9:00 AM

At the moment, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify earlier than Congress for the primary time, in an try to handle lawmakers’ worries that the terribly well-liked video app represents a harmful nationwide safety risk as a result of it’s owned by Beijing-based ByteDance.

However Chew faces an uphill battle in his look earlier than the Home Vitality and Commerce Committee, as bipartisan help for a ban of the app rises in Washington. Chew plans to use his testimony to right what he says are “myths” about TikTok. Lawmakers have warned of potential dangers of the favored video app’s ties to China, saying the federal government may abuse entry to siphon Individuals’ knowledge or fan propaganda. However up to now, they’ve supplied no proof of TikTok harming U.S. nationwide safety pursuits.

Right here’s what to know:

• The Biden administration is pushing a plan that may require TikTok’s Chinese language house owners to promote their stakes within the firm. However the administration’s technique may run into the identical authorized and constitutional minefield that squashed Trump’s try and power a sale of the app within the run-up to the 2020 election.
• Chew has grow to be the face of TikTok in Washington, the place he’s been on a appeal offensive to beat what he calls a “belief deficit” amongst American lawmakers. The corporate has been leaning on lobbying techniques utilized by its American tech rivals because it fights again towards its picture as Washington’s boogeyman.
• Extra Individuals help a TikTok ban than oppose one, however there are sharp divisions between generations, political events, and individuals who truly use the app and people who don’t, a Washington Submit ballot discovered. The ballot reviews that 41 % of Individuals help a federal TikTok ban, whereas 25 % say they oppose it.
• A authorities ban of TikTok, which says it has greater than 150 million month-to-month lively customers within the U.S., may violate Individuals’ First Modification rights to free expression. Although TikTok critics have argued it might be used to spice up Chinese language propaganda, a U.S. ban of the app may find yourself silencing individuals, like this U.S.-based dissident, who use it to criticize the Chinese language authorities.