'American data stored on American soil': TikTok CEO grilled in front of Congress
WASHINGTON (KDKA) - Yesterday on Capitol Hill, lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Chew about the app's security as well as its ownership, a Chinese company.
Lawmakers in Congress expressed serious concerns about the social media app, saying they're trying to find the best way to deal with it as it is in the hands of millions of monthly users across the U.S.
They expressed their disgust with the app at the heated hearing in front of the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee. The concerns come from the content children are exposed to on the app as well as TikTok's ties to the Chinese government through its parent company Byte Dance.
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Chew, a 40-year-old from Singapore said TikTok is taking steps to protect user data and insisted the video-sharing platform is not an arm of the Chinese government.
"I have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data," he said. "The bottom line is this American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel."
Chew said the company is working to build a firewall, dubbed "Project Texas," to store and protect user data in the United States.
The federal government recently banned the app on official devices and Congress is considering at least three bills that would further restrict the app or implement a nationwide ban.
Here in Pennsylvania, the state senate has voted to ban the app from all state-owned devices and Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity also banned the app from treasury devices.