TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will make a rare appearance Thursday before a U.S. Congressional committee, where he’ll face hard questioning on data security and user safety, while he makes his own case for why the popular video-sharing app shouldn’t be banned.
Chew's testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users, but is under increasing pressure from U.S. officials. TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.
TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favourable to the country’s Communist leaders.
