TikTok ban – as it happened: CEO Shou Chew says social media apps should be banned from government devices

We’re minutes away from TikTok CEO Shou Chew from taking his seat before members of Congress.

A live stream is available here:

TikTok CEO Shou Chew starts by saying he looks forward to “discussing what makes TikTok so special to the diverse audiences it serves, as well as our efforts to promote minor safety, data privacy, and platform security.”

He adds: “I also welcome the chance to update you about our efforts to develop cutting-edge, multi-pronged initiatives to address national security concerns.”

Cathy McMorris Rodger, the Chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said during her opening remarks that allowing a Chinese-owned company access to the phone screens of American children and teenagers is "like allowing the Soviet Union to produce Saturday morning cartoons during the Cold War - but much more dangerous".

Ranking member Frank Pallone adds to these fears by saying disinformation campaigns could be launched through TikTok, while "addictive algorithms" were contributing to "emotional distress and depression" in school children.

You can read the full story from The Independent’s John Bowden in Washington DC here:

An apparent death threat to Chair Rodgers remained on TikTok for 41 days leading up to today’s hearing, according to Congresswoman Kat Cammack.

"You couldn't take action after 41 days when a clear threat, a very violent threat, to the chairwoman of this committee and the members of this committee was posted on your platform,” she said.

"You damn well know you cannot protect the data and security of this committee or the 150 million [US] users of your app, because it is an extension of the CCP."

CEO Shou Chew earlier denied allegations that the Chinese Communist Party has the ability to censor content on TikTok. The Tiananmen Square protests were used an example, which Mr Chew insisted could be found among the app’s shortform content.

You can watch the video here:

Congressman Bill Johnson cites a Citizen Lab report that claims TikTok uses some of the same source code as the app Douyin, which is the Chinese version of TikTok also owned by ByteDance.

This, Mr Johnson claims, could allow the Chinese government to censor and influence content.

He accuses TikTok CEO Shou Chew of misleading the American public.

Mr Chew is not permitted to respond as the lawmaker yields his time.

The questioning has moved on to distressing content on the platform, with Congressman John Sarbanes claiming that TikTok is not doing enough to protect young users.

Congressman Brett Guthrie adds to this line of questioning by claiming that the Chinese version of TikTok Douyin would not allow such content on its platform.

CEO Shou Chew argues that a fairer comparison would be to US rivals like Facebook and Instagram, which face similar kinds of content moderation issues.

Congressman Carter from Georgia is venturing into the territory of conspiracy here, questioning whether TikTok’s algorithm is fed by biometric data obtained by spying on a user through their phone’s camera.

“I want to talk about biometric matrix,” Mr Carter says. “Can you say with 100 per cent certainty that TikTok does not use the phone’s camera to determine whether the content that elicits a pupil dilation should be amplified by the algorithm?”

Mr Chew respondes: “We do not collect body, face or voice data to identify our users.”

As Congressman Carter yields his time, we’ve now got a 10 minute recess.