The Federalist: 3 Biggest Revelations From The TikTok Hearing That Explain Why The App Has Got To Go

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew confirmed his mega-popular app is effectively Chinese Communist Party spyware and a threat to U.S. national security during testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday. 

Below are the three biggest revelations from the hearing, providing more than enough reason for President Biden to banish the app from America if its Chinese owners refuse to sell the company. 

1. CEO Admits Chinese Engineers Have Access to American Data

When Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., asked Chew if ​​ “ByteDance employees in Beijing have access to American data,” Chew confirmed, “Yes, the Chinese engineers do have access to global data.”

When Walberg asked if the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has access to American data, Chew said no. However, there is an abundance of evidence proving TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is heavily controlled by the CCP, indicating the Chinese government does indeed have access to American data. 

A highly comprehensive report submitted to the Australian Senate revealed ByteDance is not private, but better described as a “hybrid” state-private entity. The CCP has a stake in ByteDance, as well as a seat on its company board and its own party committee within the company. 

Further evidence includes ByteDance CEO Zhang Yiming’s 2020 public apology to the Chinese government for not promoting “socialist core values,” and Forbes’ 2022 report that 300 TikTok and ByteDance employees had previously worked for Chinese state media, including 15 who worked for the party concurrently.

Similar to Walberg, Rep. Bob Latta, R-Ohio, asked whether ByteDance employees in China, including engineers, have access to Americans’ sensitive user data. Chew responded by refusing to deny that sensitive user data is stored in China and accessible to CCP-controlled ByteDance employees. 

None of this should come as a surprise. This month, TikTok spokeswoman Brooke Oberwetter conceded American data would be accessible in China “under limited, monitored circumstances,” after Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., brought forward allegations that the company was overstating its separation from ByteDance.

Read the full article at The Federalist.