U.S. lawmakers have grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about data security and harmful content, with some pushing to ban the popular short-video app nationwide. But why?
BEIJING — U.S. lawmakers have grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about data security and harmful content, with some pushing to ban the popular short-video app nationwide.
ByteDance is based in Beijing but registered in the Cayman Islands, as is common for privately owned Chinese companies. Its headquarters is in Beijing’s northwestern Haidian district, home to key universities and a hub for tech startups. TikTok has dual headquarters in Singapore and Los Angeles. China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law states that “any organization” must assist or cooperate with state intelligence work while a separate 2014 Counter-Espionage Law says “relevant organizations … may not refuse” to collect evidence for an investigation.
The Chinese government has also sought more direct control over companies by getting seats on boards of directors.TikTok has promised to protect data on American users by storing it on servers operated by an outside contractor, Oracle Corp., in what’s known as “Project Texas.” Chew, the TikTok CEO, said all new U.S. user data is stored in the United States and the company should finish deleting older U.S. data from non-Oracle servers this year.
When questioned whether ByteDance was effectively controlled by the Chinese Communist Party, Chew said he disagreed.
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