House to consider TikTok legislation after CEO's testimony, Speaker McCarthy says
Lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday
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The House of Representatives will move forward with legislation on TikTok, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Sunday, just days after CEO Shou Zi Chew was grilled by lawmakers on Capitol Hill about the social media app used by more than 150 million Americans.
"It's very concerning that the CEO of TikTok can't be honest and admit what we already know to be true—China has access to TikTok user data," McCarthy, R-Calif, tweeted on Sunday morning.
Lawmakers have been raising the alarm for months about TikTok, which is owned by Chinese parent company ByteDance. Some U.S. officials have argued that TikTok is required to turn over data to the Chinese government due to the country's national security laws.
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies during a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on the platform's consumer privacy and data security practices and impact on children, Thursday, March 23, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon / AP Images)
Rep. Neal Dunn, R-Fla., asked Chew on Friday whether ByteDance has "spied on American citizens."
"I don't think that spying is the right way to describe it," Chew responded.
At another point in the hearing, Chew failed to directly answer Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, when asked multiple times about whether employees at ByteDance had access to Americans' user data, calling it a "complex issue."
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Multiple pieces of legislation have been introduced in both chambers of Congress concerning TikTok.
A bipartisan group of 12 U.S. Senators introduced a bill earlier this month with the White House's backing that would give President Biden the ability to ban TikTok and other technology platforms owned by foreign adversaries.
Two House lawmakers introduced a bill in December that would ban all financial transactions from the popular social media app.
FILE: This photo shows a TikTok app logo. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato / AP Newsroom)
The Treasury Department's Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., which has been in discussions with TikTok since 2019, demanded last week that ByteDance divest its stake in the app or face a possible ban.
Dozens of governors across the U.S. have already banned the app on state-owned devices.
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Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young sent a memo to federal agencies in late February instructing them to develop a plan to delete TikTok from all government devices and systems within 30 days.
TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.