US lawmakers grill TikTok CEO over Chinese Government data concerns

TikTok CEO, Shou Chew, faced over four hours of intense questioning from US lawmakers on Thursday regarding the accountability and transparency of the social media platform.

The highly popular video app has raised concerns among Capitol Hill officials who fear it could potentially funnel users’ personal information to the Chinese government.

As a result, there have been increasing calls for the app to be banned or for TikTok to be spun off from its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

Lawmakers demanded answers from Chew during the hearing, seeking clarity on the company's data privacy policies and its relationship with the Chinese government.

The hearing also explored the possibility of TikTok being used as a tool for censorship and propaganda.

Many of the lawmakers who attended expressed their concerns over the potential threat TikTok poses to national security, urging Chew to take more responsibility for the platform's content and users.

In response to the hearing, Today FM's US correspondent, Toni Waterman, spoke with Lloyd Burr on Friday evening about the focus of the lawmakers’ questions.

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