US lawmakers grilled TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew for almost six hours on Thursday, raising concerns over national security, as the popular multimedia platform, which has more than 150 million users in the United States, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Chinese tech firm ByteDance. The lawmakers inquired about China's potential to access the data of millions of Americans through the platform.
During the questioning, both Republican and Democratic representatives aggressively questioned Chew, abruptly cutting him off, stating that the app was a danger to mental health and a threat to US national security. Chew was pressed on various topics such as TikTok's content moderation practices. He emphasised that TikTok prioritises user safety to avoid a ban in the US and played down the app's links to China.
The US Commerce Department now holds the authority to ban foreign technology that poses a threat to national security under the "Restrict Act," a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate this month. The passage of this bill will determine the possibility of a ban.
Who is Shou Zi Chew?
Shou Zi Chew is a 40-year-old chief executive who resides in Singapore with his wife, Vivian Kao, and their two children. He completed his undergraduate studies at University College London in 2006, and then worked for Goldman Sachs for two years.
Chew subsequently pursued a master's degree at Harvard Business School in the United States, where he interned at Facebook for two years, according to a report by the Associated Press.
After finishing his MBA, Chew became a partner at DST Global, a venture capital firm, where he spent five years and contributed to investment activities that led to the formation of ByteDance. Following his tenure at DST Global, Chew spent another five years at Xiaomi, a prominent Chinese smartphone manufacturer. In 2021, he was appointed as the CEO of TikTok, succeeding former Disney executive Kevin Mayer. Chew now reports to Liang Rubo, the CEO of ByteDance, TikTok's parent company.