March 22, 2023
2 mins read

TikTok CEO warns users about ban ahead of Congress hearing

In a minute-long video on TikTok, Chew thanked the TikTok community of 150 million Americans ahead of his congressional hearing….reports Asian Lite News

Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of Chinese short-form video platform, which faces a nationwide ban in the US, has warned users as he prepares to appear before the US Congress on March 23.

In a minute-long video on TikTok, Chew thanked the TikTok community of 150 million Americans ahead of his congressional hearing.

“That’s almost half of the US coming to TikTok, including 5 million US businesses. The majority of these are small and medium businesses,” he mentioned.

TikTok has about 7,000 employees in the US, reports The Verge.

“Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok,” Chew said. “Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you.”

The Joe Biden administration has reportedly demanded that China-based ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, must sell its stake in the short-video making app or face a possible ban.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the White House’s threat is an escalation from the limited bans and pending legislation that have been growing up for some time.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US made the sale demand, according to the report.

TikTok had said in a statement that a “forced sale wouldn’t address the perceived security risk”.

“If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” a TikTok spokesperson was quoted as saying.

A group of 12 US Senators has unveiled a new bill that now has a White House backing and will give President Biden power to ban TikTok nationwide.

New Zealand bans TikTok

After the United States, the UK and New Zealand became the latest western countries to ban the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform TikTok on “government devices” citing security fears, The New York Times reported.

The UK announced the ban of TikTok with immediate effect citing security fears linked to the video-sharing app’s ownership by a Chinese company. Speaking in the parliament, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden described the ban as “precautionary,” even though the United States, the European Union’s executive arm, Canada and India had already taken similar steps.

Dowden said social media apps collect and store huge amounts of user data including contacts, user content and geolocation data on government devices which can be sensitive, according to The New York Times.

Post Covid, TikTok has aroused more suspicion than most because of its owner, the Chinese company ByteDance.

Britain’s actions reflect fears expressed across a variety of Western governments that TikTok might share sensitive data from devices used by politicians and senior officials with the government in Beijing.

ALSO READ: ‘TikTok can threaten America’s safety, national security’

Previous Story

Trump’s potential indictment caps decades of legal scrutiny

Next Story

‘Not impartial’: US dismisses Beijing’s mediation on Ukraine

Latest from -Top News

Singapore’s Ruling Party Achieves Landslide Victory

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, whose party won the election, thanked supporters.,..reports Asian Lite News Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) won 87 of the 97 seats in Parliament in Saturday’s general election,

Jaishankar, Lavrov Discuss Pahalgam Terror Attack

Both the Ministers discussed issues of Russian-Indian cooperation and the aggravation of India-Pakistan relations following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam. External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar spoke to the Russian Foreign Minister

Ukrainian forces to join VE  procession  

Ukrainian personnel will join around 1,000 UK armed forces members, including soldiers on horseback and military bands, to symbolise “the global support for their continued fight for freedom” against Russia  krainian armed

Rajnath Singh to skip Russia visit

The decision comes amid rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir…reports Asian Lite News Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will not likely attend Russia’s

WAVES 2025: Jaishankar Advocates Cultural Pluralism

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar delivered a powerful address at the WAVES 2025 Global Media Dialogue, highlighting the significance of cultural pluralism in shaping global change. Speaking on the second day of
Go toTop

Don't Miss

US State Department launches China House unit

Blinken announced the creation of China House, calling it a

Taliban seeking big share of power in peace talks, says US Envoy

Zalmay Khalilzad’s bleak assessment of the peace process coincides with