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TIK TOKs' CEO Shou Zi Chew Questioned by US Congress
TikTok: UK Ministers Banned From Using Chinese-Owned App on Government Phones
TikTok Says US Threatens Ban if China Stake Not Sold British government ministers have been banned from using Chinese-owned social media app TikTok on their work phones and devices on security grounds. The United States barred TikTok from official devices in December, and the European Commission followed suit last month. Canada, Belgium and India have taken similar action. New Zealand on Friday also issued a ban on government devices. BBC 17 MAR 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...k-index-pa.jpg The government fears sensitive data held on official phones could be accessed by the Chinese government. Cabinet Minister Oliver Dowden said the ban was a "precautionary" move but would come into effect immediately. TikTok has strongly denied allegations that it hands users' data to the Chinese government. Theo Bertram, the app's vice-president of government relations and public policy in Europe, told the BBC it believed the decision was based on "more on geopolitics than anything else". "We asked to be judged not on the fears that people have, but on the facts," he added. The Chinese embassy in London said the move was motivated by politics "rather than facts" and would "undermine the confidence of the international community in the UK's business environment". Mr Dowden said he would not advise the public against using TikTok, but they should always "consider each social media platform's data policies before downloading and using them". Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had been under pressure from senior MPs to follow the US and the European Union in barring the video-sharing app from official government devices. But government departments - and individual ministers - have embraced TikTok as a way of getting their message out to younger people. Use of the app has exploded in recent years, with 3.5 billion downloads worldwide. Its success comes from how easy it is to record short videos with music and fun filters, but also from its algorithm which is good at serving up videos which appeal to individual users. It is able to do this because it gathers a lot of information on users - including their age, location, device and even their typing rhythms - while its cookies track their activity elsewhere on the internet. US-based social media sites also do this but TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has faced claims of being influenced by Beijing. Downing Street - which last posted a TikTok video of Larry the Cat predicting football results - said it would continue to use TikTok to get the government's message out. It said there were exemptions to the ban under some circumstances. Some politicians are also reluctant to give up the TikTok habit, despite the security warnings. Cabinet minister Grant Shapps - an enthusiastic TikTokker - reacted to the ban by posting a clip from the film, Wolf Of Wall Street, in which Leonardo DiCaprio, playing a New York stockbroker, uses a series of expletives and declares: "The show goes on". Mr Shapps called the ban "sensible", but added: "I've never used TikTok on government devices and can hereby confirm I will NOT be leaving TikTok anytime soon!" Ministers have not been banned from using the site on their personal phones - just their work devices. But Nadine Dorries - who experimented with TikTok videos when she was culture secretary - said she would be deleting the app from her personal phone, adding: "I think all MPs should do likewise." Hours before the ban was announced the Ministry of Defence (MoD) uploaded a video of a Challenger 2 tank, a type being supplied to Ukraine, to its TikTok account. The MoD said it would continue to use the app "to promote the work of the Armed Forces and to communicate our support to Ukraine". The department's sensitive data is "held on a separate system", it added. The Welsh government has also banned TikTok from the work phones of ministers and civil servants. In Edinburgh, a spokesperson for the Scottish government said officials were liasing with the Cabinet Office "as we consider the need for further action". In a statement earlier, TikTok said the UK government's decision was based on "fundamental misconceptions". "We remain committed to working with the government to address any concerns but should be judged on facts and treated equally to our competitors," a spokesman added. The Ministry of Defence says it will continue to post on TikTok A handful of Western journalists were found to have been tracked by ByteDance employees. ByteDance says they were fired. A US TikTokker shared a video criticising the Chinese government's treatment of the Uighur Muslims, and it was taken down. TikTok said this was a mistake. This has added to the nervousness of governments and security specialists - despite the firm's consistent denials. The Chinese state demands loyalty from all businesses based in the country and nobody really knows to what extent ByteDance might be pushed to comply with demands for data. China has accused the US of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok amid reports the White House wants its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the firm. TikTok insists it does not share data with Chinese officials, but Chinese intelligence laws requires firms to help the Communist Party when requested. Western social media apps such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are blocked in China. |
re: TIK TOKs' CEO Shou Zi Chew Questioned by US Congress
TikTok Spying on American Journalists in Justice Department Probe
Australia expected to ban TikTok from federal government devices BBC 18 MAR 2023 https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/VM...c41b88c1c6c083 The U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations that the Chinese company that owns TikTok has been spying on journalists and other Americans, the New York Times reported Friday. The inquiry began late last year after TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, admitted that employees had wrongly captured information of American users of the social app, including data from two journalists and some of their associates, the Times reported. The U.S. government as been concerned for years about the growing popularity of TikTok and the influence the authoritarian Chinese government has over the company and how the app is used. Both the Trump and Biden administrations have investigated TikTok amid these concerns, and now FBI and the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia have joined the inquiry. According to several reports, the Biden administration is pressuring ByteDance to cut ties with TikTok or face being banned in the U.S. market. The app is already banned on government phones in the United States, Europe and more than two dozen states. A reporter for Forbes magazine reported the story, saying she was one of the journalists whose data had been monitored through the app. ByteDance is claiming that the employees who did the spying were acting independently and have been fired. The investigation is ongoing, and the Justice Department so far has made no statement about that incident. |
re: TIK TOKs' CEO Shou Zi Chew Questioned by US Congress
TIK TOKs' US Future at Stake as Boss Faces Congress Showdown
On Thursday, TikTok's CEO, Shou Zi Chew, will be opening a lions' mouth and placing his own head into it. BBC 23 MAR 2023 https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/976/cp...089715_tik.jpg Shou Zi Chew and his wife, Vivian Kao, attend the 2022 Met Gala in New York City He's giving testimony in the US Congress for the first time, a scary thing to do. And at stake is the future of the phenomenally popular video-sharing app in the US. "I think that there is a real risk that if this hearing doesn't go well… that could have a massive impact on the future of TikTok," said Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom. Mr Chew is likely to face a barrage of questions on TikTok's relationship with China, what data it collects, and what it does with it. He'll also be quizzed on why several journalists were spied on by ByteDance employees - something TikTok has already admitted. Mr Chew will say user data is safe - away from the reach of the Chinese government. He knows politicians from all sides want to see the platform either sold - or outright banned in the US. "He's going into the lion's den," said Mr Stokel-Walker. Mr Chew is going to need to give the performance of a lifetime. And already, close observers have seen a change of tactic from the Singaporean. TikTok's boss, who has had a range of senior positions in the world of finance, generally sports a suit jacket and tie. But on Tuesday, he posted a TikTok with a very different look. Instead of a suit, he was wearing a white T-shirt and hoodie - the uniform of the nonchalant tech founder. The 40-year-old was suddenly speaking like a teenager too - talking of being "super excited". "I think he's trying to give off a sort of the casual tech bro," said Caitlin Chin from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank. "He's actually been starting to gain a bit more of a public profile, especially leading up to this hearing." The Singaporean has generally kept a low profile since taking over at TikTok in 2021. However, that approach appears to have changed. TikTok is fighting for its life, and Mr Chew knows it. The big problem TikTok has in the US and Europe is that it is owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance. And in China, there are specific laws that require companies to hand over information to the Chinese Communist Party if requested. TikTok holds reams of data about its users, including location information and biometric data. For years TikTok has argued that it would never hand over user information. It has spent tens of millions of dollars on lobbying efforts and strategies to appease governments. At the heart of its attempt to convince US lawmakers is "Project Texas". This is the company's commitment to store US data in the US - on servers run by a US company - Oracle. The company says so far it has spent $1.5bn on this project - and describes it as a "firewall" that protects data from foreign governments. TikTok had hoped it would satisfy politicians on all sides. Last year Mr Chew wrote to politicians saying he believed the project would "safeguard user data and US national security interests". But sadly for TikTok, Project Texas has been looked at sceptically by both Republicans and Democrats. For many US politicians, for as long as TikTok has a Chinese owner, it will be considered suspicious. Last month FBI director Christopher Wray didn't mince his words about the platform. "This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese Government. And to me, it screams out with national security concerns," he said. For most US lawmakers, TikTok would be a far more palatable platform if it were not owned by a Chinese company. Last week it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that the Biden administration had requested the company be sold for this reason. This is not what ByteDance wants. TikTok has enormous potential. And besides, the Chinese company doesn't wish to sell its greatest asset simply because US politicians want them to. This is the backdrop to Thursday's congressional hearing. We already have a fair idea of what Mr Chew is going to say from TikTok briefings. He'll argue that 150 million American users will lose out if the platform is banned - and that thousands of small businesses rely on the platform. He'll push back on the idea that ByteDance is Chinese-owned - saying the company has many international investors. And he'll also argue that Chinese laws cannot compel ByteDance to share American data - because TikTok is a US-based company, with its data stored in the US. But often these hearings make headlines for one or perhaps two specific exchanges. Mark Zuckerberg's famous Senate hearing in 2018 is often remembered for one brilliant question from Senator Richard Durbin. "Mr Zuckerberg, would you be comfortable sharing with us which hotel you stayed in last night?" he said. The Facebook boss looked visibly uncomfortable before saying "no". "I think that might be what this is all about…your right to privacy," the senator said. It's these curveball questions that Shou Zi Chew should fear most. |
Re: TIK TOKs' CEO Shou Zi Chew Questioned by US Congress
TIK TOKs' CEO Shou Zi Chew Questioned by US Congress
Do Chinese Spies Really Love TikTok? BBC 24 MAR 2023 https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn...862&height=575 'Yes or no?' US politicians grill TikTok boss TikTok's chief executive has defended the Chinese-owned app in the face of hostile questioning at a US congressional hearing. Shou Zi Chew denied the hugely popular video-sharing platform was a national security risk and played down its connection to Beijing. |
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