TikTok CEO to lawmakers: Americans' data not at risk of 'authorized foreign access'

TikTok's chief executive is expected to tell lawmakers in Washington this week that the data of the app's 150 million U.S. users is insulated from Chinese authorities.

TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew is set to address the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday, and he plans to describe the firewall between the company's American operation and China, or as Zi Chew puts it, protections against "unauthorized foreign access."

That's despite TikTok's Beijing-based corporate owner, ByteDance, which is subject to Chinese data request laws that compel companies to hand over information to the government about customers.

Zi Chew will tell the congressional committee about a $1.5 billion company restructuring known as "Project Texas," involving Austin software giant Oracle, which will store and oversee the vast amount of personal data TikTok collects from users in the U.S.

"The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel," Zi Chew plans to tell lawmakers, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks provided by the company. "Today, U.S. TikTok data is stored by default in Oracle's servers. Only vetted personnel operating in a new company, called TikTok U.S. Data Security, can control access to this data."

Zi Chew's much-anticipated appearance in Washington comes as the Biden administration intensifies pressure on TikTok, the most-downloaded app in the world in 2022.

After a two-year national security review, White House officials have told TikTok that it must divest from ByteDance, or face a severe punishment in the U.S., including the possibility of a ban.

That said, the national security review was led by the Commerce Department, and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo sounded skeptical about the Biden administration attempting to redo something President Trump unsuccessfully attempted: putting TikTok out of business in America.

"The politician in me thinks you're gonna literally lose every voter under 35, forever," Raimondo said in a Bloomberg News interview.

Any potential TikTok crackdown that included a ban would likely set off a long legal battle. Two federal judges halted President Trump's effort to shutter TikTok, citing free speech violations and executive overreach.

Now, however, top White House officials, and a growing chorus of bipartisan lawmakers, are continuing to view TikTok as a threat, fearing that China's authoritarian regime could use TikTok data to spy on, or blackmail, the millions of Americans who use the app every day.

And even though there is no evidence that the Chinese government has attempted to gain access to TikTok data, rhetoric from lawmakers about the social media sensations has been grandiose in recent months.

Republican Rep. Michael McCaul has called TikTok a "spy balloon in your phone," and fellow Republican Congressman Mike Gallagher has called TikTok "digital fentanyl."

Tensions between the U.S. and China have been on the rise in recent years, as federal officials worry about China's growing technological prowess. Washington also is watching China conduct military displays in the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait, not to mention China's surveillance balloon traversing across the U.S.

Into this tense dynamic enters TikTok, which has increasingly come to symbolize the U.S. government's worst fears about China, even if the real risk to Americans remains theoretical.

TikTok officials have tried to mitigate those worries by establishing a separate entity that will have independent auditors monitoring the app's powerful algorithm and data flows. The company has long distanced itself from China, claiming that it is a "global company," and pointing out that some 60% of ByteDance's shares are owned by global investors like Carlyle Group, General Atlantic, and Susquehanna International Group.

Another major concern of lawmakers is how TikTok could influence an entire generation of young people, since TikTok has become something of a cultural mainstay for internet commentary, comedy and political expression.

"TikTok will remain a platform for free expression and will not be manipulated by any government," Zi Chew will planning to say, according to excerpts of his remarks. "We will keep safety — particularly for teenagers — a top priority."

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.