At a hearing before the US Congress, the CEO of TikTok made a surprising revelation when he did not allow his children to use TikTok. So what is the reason behind it?
TikTok CEO Zhou Shouzi has just held a hearing to answer questions in the US Congress on issues related to TikTok, such as TikTok's influence on teenagers or the Chinese government's control of the Internet. Does this society...
This is the first time a TikTok CEO has had to testify before Congress, seen as an opportunity for TikTok to protect itself against the risk of being banned from operating in the US.
At the hearing, Democratic Congressman Nanette Barragan questioned whether Zhou Shouzi would allow her children to use TikTok. The answer is quite surprising, Zhou Shouzi's children are not allowed to use TikTok not because he banned it, but because Mr. Zhou's children are currently living in Singapore.
Shou Zi Chew testified before the US Congress to protect TikTok against the risk of this social network being banned in the US (Image: Getty)
Shou Zi Chew testified before the US Congress to protect TikTok against the risk of this social network being banned in the US (Image: Getty)
Chew said Singapore law does not allow children under 13 to use TikTok and Singapore has not released a version of TikTok for children under 13, so Chew's children must comply with the law.
Zhou also emphasized that the children's version of TikTok is now available in the US, if Zhou's children live in the US, he will definitely let them use this version of TikTok.
Also at this hearing, Chew emphasized that ByteDance (TikTok's parent company) is a private company that is not controlled by the Chinese government, and TikTok is also operating independently, independent of the Chinese state. Nation, with headquarters in Los Angeles and Singapore.
However, when Representative Neil Dunn, R-Fla., questioned whether ByteDance was "surveillance of American citizens?" Chew evaded him and simply replied, "I don't think espionage is a crime, that's an appropriate way to describe us." However, Chew acknowledged that ByteDance employees in China have access to user data in the United States.
When asked about TikTok's data collection practices, Mr. Chew emphasized that the data TikTok collects "is often collected by many other companies in our industry. We are very committed. transparent about what users are collecting publicly"
“I don't believe we have more information than most people in the industry,” said Shou Zizhou.
Currently, TikTok still faces the risk of being banned from operating in the US due to security concerns. This social network has been completely banned in India, Afghanistan... Some European countries such as the UK, France, the Netherlands, Denmark... also ban the installation of TikTok on government work devices.