App “monitors us all”
US Congress takes TikTok boss through the wringer
03/23/2023, 7:32 p.m
For fear of Chinese influence, the United States is considering a ban on the Tiktok video platform. In a heated hearing in the US Congress, CEO Chew takes on critical questions from MPs. Meanwhile, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution also sees risks for app users.
Tiktok boss Shou Zi Chew tried to allay concerns about Chinese espionage and influence on the popular short video app during an appearance in the US Congress. Among other things, he said that all data from American users was stored on US servers and access to it was strictly monitored. Tiktok’s recommendation algorithm, which selects the videos for users in America, is also run by the US software giant Oracle.
Tiktok is under increasing political pressure because the platform belongs to the Bytedance group from China. A ban on the app is under discussion in the United States. According to media reports, the US government is demanding an exit from Chinese shareholders.
At the House Commerce Committee hearing, Chairwoman Cathy Rogers set a sharp tone. “Tiktok monitors us all. And the Chinese Communist Party can use it as a tool to manipulate America as a whole,” the Republican said in her statement. She also called Tiktok a “portal for drug dealers”. Democratic Vice-Chairman Frank Pallone said US privacy assurances are not adequate.
Republican MP Buddy Carter said Tiktok’s algorithm makes users more dependent than any other platform. The Chinese Communist Party knows this and is conducting “psychological warfare via Tiktok to influence American children”. Other committee members pointed to the dangers of dares spreading across the platform that could lead to fatalities. Many MPs interrupted the Tiktok boss’s responses by demanding a “yes” or “no” on complex questions.
The Office for the Protection of the Constitution is alarmed
The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution also sees considerable risks in using Tiktok. “If you look at the amount of data, metadata, content at Tiktok on the one hand, and if you then also look at the possibilities for government agencies to influence such companies, then that can only give you a headache. And I have that.” , said the vice president of the domestic secret service, Sinan Selen, in Berlin on the sidelines of an event on espionage, sabotage and cyber risks for the German economy.
“We’re not clear enough on the extent of what government agencies can access, especially in China — I think that’s the crux of the matter,” he added. Companies like Tiktok are unable to evade such influence. If you keep that in mind, you come to the conclusion that security issues need to be given more emphasis.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said during a visit to Washington that she does not see a general ban on the app in Germany. However, you have to clarify more that Tiktok is a company where “the data can of course leak”.
With more than a billion users, Tiktok is the only online platform that is also successful in the West that does not come from the USA. Tiktok rejects all allegations and emphasizes that it does not see itself as a subsidiary of a Chinese company. Bytedance is 60 percent owned by western investors. The company is based on the Cayman Islands in the Caribbean. Critics counter that the Chinese founders held 20 percent of the control thanks to higher voting rights and that Bytedance has a large headquarters in Beijing.