TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday . If there ’s anyone left in Congress or the American public who has n’t made up their mind about the ultra - popular short - form app , the executive will attempt to sway them to his side .
The app is already banned on government activity equipment , and President Joe Biden has threatened to ostracise TikTok across the country if ByteDance does n’t sell it to a non - Chinese entity . Since the Trump administration , the American government has been threatening to shun TikTok . The app is owned by ByteDance , a technical school caller ground in Beijing , and by law the Chinese Communist Party could force the app to pass over American exploiter data point — something which Chew will vehemently deny during his porta remark . There are also questions about whether the app could be used to pass around Chinese or anti - American propaganda , and many critics fence thatTikTok is dangerous for children and adolescent .
In hisprepared argument , released Wednesday and posted below , Chew will argue that TikTok already treat these business concern . Chew lay out more details about so called “ Project Texas , ” a plan where TikTok is partnering with an American tech fellowship , Oracle , to house American substance abuser information on servers in the US , where the data will be siloed to keep it out of the bridge player of the Taiwanese governing . Chew also says that kid and teenagers are treat to limited protective covering on TikTok , both in term of the content they see and how data is collected .
Photo: Martin Meissner / ASSOCIATED PRESS (AP)
But he ’ll also make a encompassing argument . Chew is trying to make the case that TikTok is essential to American modest businesses and free speech , and that it ’s too important to the app ’s report 150 million US user to ban .
TikTok ’s Chew is quieter than his counterparts at other tech platforms . Where Mark Zuckerberg is the key spokesperson for Meta and Elon Musk is essentially the only person who ever speak for Twitter , Chew has courted the public center far less . After tomorrow , TikTok will have a public face for the first fourth dimension .
What will TikTok’s CEO say to Congress?
Chair Rodgers , Ranking Member Pallone , and Members of the Committee :
Thank you for the opportunity to look before you today to talk about TikTok and our commission to inspire creativeness and play joy to more than 1 billion the great unwashed worldwide . I face forward to discussing what makes TikTok so especial to the diverse audience it serves , as well as our efforts to promote nonaged safety , data privacy , and platform security . I also welcome the chance to update you about our efforts to develop press cutting - edge , multi - fork-like initiatives to address national surety concerns .
My name is Shou Chew , and I am the Chief Executive Officer of TikTok . I am responsible for all of TikTok ’s business operations and our strategic management worldwide . A third - generation Singaporean , I am a alumna of University College of London and Harvard Business School . I am a old hand of the Singapore Armed Forces , a hubby , and a father , and I presently rest in Singapore with my wife and two children .
Long before I became CEO , I was a content Almighty , and I have see firsthand the transformative potentiality of short - form TV . I am passionate about TikTok ’s ability to clear people ’s lives , preface them to new melodic theme and interests , and facilitate commercial enterprise connect to their audiences .
On TikTok , we aim to provide three thing . The first is a window to discover . This windowpane , the For You feed , opens to a watercourse of television curated to your interests , making it easygoing to find mental object and Maker you screw . The second is a canvas to make . Whether it ’s demonstrating a fresh science experimentation or the late cookery course , citizenry around the world use TikTok to unleash creativity . The third is a bridge deck to connect . Through TikTok , people have discovered new communities , cultures , and interests . As an example , BookTok , with more than 100 billion view , has connected readers across the globe and changed the way people consume literature . Although some people may still think of TikTok as a dance app for adolescent , the reality is that our platform and our residential area have become so much more for so many .
TikTok has endue millions of Americans to express their voices in their own authentic way and has provided a world leg for their creativity in a room that can not be replicate on any other platform or in any other medium . More than 150 million people in the United States use TikTok on a monthly basis , with the average user today being an adult well past college eld . Their video provide a electron lens through which the residual of the world can experience American finish . instance let in TikTok ’s role in bringing exposure to American musicians , artists , chef , and many more . While user in the United States represent 10 percent of our globular community , their vocalisation account for 25 percent of the entire views around the world .
In addition to being a destination to evince creativity , we pride ourselves on being a political program that helps companies — many of them small business organization — expand . These are businesses like Country Lather Soap Works in Perkinston , Mississippi . Country Lather Soap Works is a no - ruffle producer of handcrafted grievous bodily harm and bath product located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast . Founder Jessie Whittington had been making soap as a hobby for long time before sharing her passion on TikTok while furlough from her job as a coach driver . In a short clip , sales explode and she was shipping her products across the country , reserve her to cease her 9 - to-5 and realize her dream of incline her own belittled business .
TikTok enabled many little patronage to endure the darkest days of the pandemic , and a recent subject field plant that an overwhelming majority of small businesses view TikTok as both merriment and easy to use . TikTok ’s Small Business Resource Center aid people leverage the power and creativeness of TikTok to arise their brands and good associate with their hearing . If you blab out to the millions of multitude and business who are on TikTok , I believe you ’ll hear incredibly powerful stories of discovery , creation , and connexion that impart to masses ’s livelihoods and well - being .
Although I could blab out all day about how TikTok enriches masses ’s life , I am also here to address concerns that have been raised by some members of this Committee . I know that trustingness is something that is pull in through natural process , not Scripture , and I welcome the opportunity to talk over not only our commitment , but also tangible evidence from TikTok ’s efforts to become a drawing card in safety and protection .
Having met with a number of phallus of the Committee in recent weeks , the concerns that I have heard drop primarily into four class : minor safety , information privacy and security measures , real - world harms from on-line activities , and the hazard of foreign content handling . I would like to address each of these in turning . After that , I will compare some myths about TikTok to reality , including with regard to perceive foreign influence . First , however , I want to take a moment to highlight TikTok ’s allegiance to an assailable and transparent relationship with Congress generally and this Committee specifically .
There are more than 150 million Americans who love our political program , and we know we have a responsibility to protect them , which is why I ’m defecate the following commitments to you and our drug user :
1 ) We will keep safety — particularly for teenagers — a top priority for us ;
2 ) We will firewall protected U.S. user data from unauthorized strange memory access ;
3 ) Tiktok will rest a platform for liberal aspect and will not be manipulated by any government ;
4 ) We will be transparent and give access to third - company independent monitors , to remain accountable for our commitments .
TikTok’s Commitment to Transparency
Although this is my first prison term testifying before Congress , TikTok has long view Congress an important stakeholder , and we have prosecute actively with this Committee and others . TikTok routinely and voluntarily provides document , briefing , and testimonial to congressional committee .
For instance , over the past several month , TikTok has provided four briefings to the two-party staffs of this Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on issues including datum access and security . We also separately brief this Committee in January on our efforts colligate to modest safety . Through these briefings , TikTok has answered doubt about our full-bodied insurance policy and the improvements that we have made and will stay on to make to even further fortify our capability . Because we value Congress ’s of import lapse theatrical role , we regularly leave document and entropy well beyond our sound obligations . We appear forrader to continuing to engage in a crystalline and productive dialogue with this Committee and others .
TikTok ’s involution with Congress is symbolical of our broader approach to transparency . Every one-fourth , we release a Community Guidelines Enforcement Report . These report contain elaborate information about the type and volume of content we remove . doubly a yr , we also let on data about request we receive from law enforcement or regime .
Additionally , we are developing platform research and content moderateness ApplicationProgramming Interfaces ( APIs ) as part of our commitment to bring foil to how our platform operates . As of last calendar month , we have launched a inquiry API that give up U.S.-based academic researchers to more easy analyze public content posted to the platform .
We provide elaborated information about our content moderation cognitive process and recommendation system in our Transparency and Accountability Center . After offering virtual tours during the pandemic , we lately open up the doors to the first physical Transparency and Accountability Center in Los Angeles . Another inwardness is plan for Washington , D.C. We would be glad to dress a practical or in - person enlistment for Members and Committee staff at your contrivance .
Minor Safety
rubber and wellness — in particular for teens — is a burden anteriority for TikTok . And as a father of two , these exit are personal for me . Today ’s youthfulness are develop up in a digital media world , and TikTok is eager to be part of the conversation about creating more rich protections . TikTok supports creating additional protections , let in potential updates to the Children ’s Online Privacy Protection Act , to address the New online ecosystem . We would similarly welcome a conversation around lawmaking to enshrine better industriousness standards for age confirmation . We are attached to work constructively and collaboratively with the Committee on this crucial statute law .
In summation to forward - thinking legislation , right Cartesian product excogitation is also central to venial safe . To help stripling safely make do their experience , TikTok supply them with old age - appropriate configurations and ascendance . The place setting TikTok has develop reflect careful consideration of not only the deviation between people under 13 and teenagers , but also within the 13 - 17 teenage grouping .
TikTok also has taken legion steps to help ensure that stripling under 18 have a good andenjoyable experience on the app . Many of these measures impose restriction not deal by other weapons platform . We launch great merchandise with a safety gadget - by - design mentality , even if those features limit our monetisation opportunities .
For model , account registered to teens under 16 are set to secret by default . They are also forbid from sending direct substance , and their content is ineligible for recommendation into the For You provender . These measures go far beyond what any of our peers do . We also prevent teenager from receiving late - night get-up-and-go notification and give parents and guardians the power to create further restriction on these notification .
Additionally , only report registered to people 18 or old can host a livestream on theplatform . All livestream hosts in the United States are need to have a minimum of 1,000 followers on TikTok . To participate in monetization programs such as gift , they must also be at least 18 years old . In addition to an industry standard eld logic gate , TikTok also uses both technology ( for instance , text edition - base models like Natural Language Processing ) and human easing to help settle whether a user may be under 18 years honest-to-god . If a user is suspect of being under 18 , the livestream is sent for human moderation . hoi polloi on TikTok can also report potentially nonaged substance abuser . If a moderator concludes the legion seems to be under 18 eld old , the livestream is stopped like a shot and the user is suspend .
in the first place this calendar month , we announced that every account belonging to a person under age 18 will be ready by default to a 60 - moment casual filmdom clock time limit . We confer with experts from the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children ’s Hospital in choosing this limit . If the 60 - minute demarcation line is pass on , teens will be prompted to infix a passcode in parliamentary law to continue watch , requiring them to make an active conclusion to extend that time . In our under-13 experience , the daily screen time terminal point will also be set to 60 minutes , and a parent or guardian will need to set or inscribe a passcode to enable 30 minutes of extra watch time .
TikTok ’s Minor Safety team hold a high measure of rigor for educate insurance policy . TikTok is staffed with expert from the field of puerile development , bar science , and child protection . TikTok whole shebang with leading young person safety and well - being experts , as well as adolescent psychologists , to inform our approach , including the Family Online Safety Institute , Common Sense Networks , the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children ’s Hospital , ConnectSafely , and the Cyberbullying Research Center , as well as our own U.S. Content Advisory Council . TikTok is also participating with the Technology Coalition , an organization that works to protect children from on-line intimate exploitation and abuse , and do on its board of directors and as chair of its transparence committee . TikTok rigorously screen content for indications of potential predatory or abusive behavior .
In addition to our own engineering , TikTok has integrated with Hash Sharing Web Services from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children ( NCMEC ) to turn on the catching and removal of known violative depicted object at the point of upload to TikTok . In 2021 , we made 154,618 news report to NCMEC and were alone among major platforms in not receiving any takedown request from NCMEC . Put otherwise , TikTok ’s swift action resulted in the removal of abusive contentedness before NCMEC receive story of it from other sources .
TikTok also recognizes that parents and health professional are critical mate in ensuring the safety of teens . parent and guardians can not do it alone , and neither can we . TikTok is continuously looking for ways to take parents and guardians in their stripling ’ experience on the platform . To that death , in 2020 , TikTok unveil Family Pairing .
Family Pairing allows a parent or guardian to link their story ( from the parent or guardian ’s twist ) with their teenager ’s account and enable privacy and refuge controls . parent and guardians can also coif screen time limitation and adjudicate whether their stripling can search for content , accounts , hashtags , or sounds . These features indue parent and guardians to customize their teen ’ privacy and base hit configurations , which TikTok continues to meliorate in audience with young person and family safety expert .
Although we have accomplished a caboodle , we are always working watchfully to remain ahead of the curved shape . As a result , we will never consider our work done , and we will never halt looking for room to better . I ’m certain I will learn of novel areas where we can meliorate today . I am both proud that TikTok has been a leader on these issues and encouraged to see that other platforms have adopted some of the protections that we have pioneer .
Data Privacy
Protecting the privateness of the hoi polloi who employ our political program is critical to our foreign mission . To that end , we amply endorse congressional efforts to dramatise comprehensive federal privacy legislation . This Committee , led by Chair Rodgers and Ranking Member Pallone , has been at the forefront of these issues , and we attend forrader to working with this Committee to help enact baseline seclusion legislation that establishes coherent and strong concealment standards .
Privacy is built into TikTok by design so that our community can confidently name , make , and delight entertaining content . People on TikTok have access to a wide-cut range of privacy setting , include choosing whether their account is private or public ; pick out to whom we may suggest their chronicle ; limit limits on who can interact with their videos , include with features like Stitch and Duet , or who can annotate on their video recording ; and pick who can go after and mention them in a post , from “ Everyone ” to “ No One . ”
We collect a special amount of information when multitude set up an invoice , such as date of parturition and username . depend on how the case-by-case sign up , we may also collect a phone telephone number or electronic mail address . Unlike some other platform , we do not require masses on TikTok to provide us with their genuine names during registration , nor do we ask them about their employment or relationship status . Current versions of the app do not gather up exact or approximate GPS selective information from U.S. users .
Another important part of being a creditworthy keeper of user data is own up to our mistakes and name changes to address them . That ’s why we promptly took action at law , including a companionship - all-embracing disclosure , when we learned recently last year that certain ( now former ) employee had accessed TikTok user data point in an unsuccessful and misguided attempt to line the reservoir of a wetting of confidential TikTok information . We also give notice this Committee about these ill - advise action mechanism within moments of informing our employee . I reprobate this wrongdoing in the substantial possible terms .
I understand that we have supply the Committee with a briefing on this subject and have committed to ongoing cooperation . In exceptional , to demonstrate that we have zero leeway for the former employee ’ misconduct , we have provided the Committee with a full accounting of actual findings and remedy efforts through the international law firm that is conducting the investigating into the matter . These remedy endeavor admit restructuring the section involved in the wrongful conduct , create a fresh Oversight Council , and strengthening insurance and operational controls relating to U.S. user data access .
Keeping TikTok Safe for All
As chief executive officer , I consider the safety of the platform to be paramount . More than 40,000 peopleglobally figure out exclusively on trust and refuge outcome for TikTok . This include in - sign of the zodiac and contract moderator , as well as team focalise on safety insurance policy , merchandise , and operations . TikTok invests heavily in these team , as well as in technology to detect potential violations and suspicious accounts at musical scale . For instance , in 2021 , TikTok spend approximately $ 1 billion on trustfulness and safety . Trust and guard represents our big labour expense for TikTok ’s U.S. operations .
We are very cognisant of the fact that online demeanor can have real - world consequences . We reach to provide a dependable environment for the TikTok community and to remove subject matter that violates our policies , including those that prohibit intimidation , hateful behaviour , packaging of perturb eating , and violent extremism . Through our quarterly Community Guidelines Enforcement Reports , we regularly update the world on how we are measuring up to this paragon .
For example , in the third quarter of 2022 , we proactively removed 96.5 pct of violative content before experience any report from substance abuser or others . In 92.7 percent of case , the remotion occurred within 24 hour of when the cognitive content was posted .
People derive to TikTok to palpate inspired , be creative , and watch lift up capacity . It is not the platform of choice for individuals seeking to engage in harmful conduct . However , we also realise that scourge to online political program safety are far from static . contented moderation , which is a core element of platform safety , is an exceptionally complicated , active , and constantly evolving process . TikTok ’s message moderateness successes — and challenges — reflect common industry experiences for digital and short - form video political program . TikTok constantly mould to improve , adjust , and make more consistent the ontogeny and implementation of contented moderation policy . Among other go-ahead , TikTok ’s U.S. Content Advisory Council , which brings together outside experts , help oneself apprise on how to respond to emerging challenge .
Data Security
I want to take this opportunity to address the work , of which I am unbelievably proud , that TikTok is doing to become the most trusted and untroubled digital political program . But I know that plainly describe our crusade is not enough . Congress and the American people understandably want proof that we are living up to our saint . So I will also turn to the numerous layer of oversight that TikTok has voluntarily comprehend . Trust must be earned through action , not words . Building trust is above all an engineering and governance exploit , not a public relations utilisation . We will go above and beyond , so our residential area and regulator can see and swear our actions . And we hope you will give us that chance .
The centrepiece of our work is called Project Texas . Project Texas is an unprecedented enterprisingness dedicated to safeguarding both U.S. user data and U.S. national surety stake . This go-ahead address key way out of bodied governance , message recommendation and moderation , data security , and organization memory access . It is a comprehensive package of criterion with layers of independent oversight to protect against back door into TikTok that could be used to keep in line the political program or memory access U.S. drug user protected data point .
Project Texas put the construct of transparence and accountability into action by addressing home security concerns pass - on with concrete , mensurable solutions . Project Texas is designed to inclose level of transparency and vetting that are normally used for defense contractile organ but are unheard of for consumer political platform . render that this is a fluid and dynamic process , I require to take some time to address what we ’ve done already and what we ’re working on .
First , we have already taken substantial steps to make Project Texas a reality , admit spending roughly $ 1.5 billion to appointment on implementation . We have formed a special - intention subordinate , TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. ( USDS ) , that currently has nearly 1,500 full - time employees . We expect that number to develop significantly over the approaching year . USDS includes the functions that oversee protected U.S. exploiter data and the underlying TikTok U.S. political platform .
To assure that the data of all Americans is stored in America and host by an Americanheadquartered company , we have contracted with Oracle , an diligence leader in cloud - ground services , to put in TikTok ’s U.S. user datum . presently , 100 percent of U.S. drug user dealings is being route to Oracle and USDS - controlled infrastructure in the United States . USDS is running our recommendation scheme for U.S. users , which determines what appears in the For You feed , in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure . Moreover , Oracle has already begin inspect TikTok ’s generator computer code and will have unprecedented entree to the related to algorithmic rule and information mannikin . No other social media company , or entertainment political platform like TikTok , provides this level of entree and transparence . As of January 18 , 2023 , TikTok ’s access to systems containing fresh protected data re exclusively controlled by USDS .
Next , I want to address what we ’re work on now . I do it that there has been a raft ofspeculation about Project Texas of late establish on media coverage . While conversations with the government are ongoing , our oeuvre on Project Texas has continue unabated . We are act upon firmly every day to arrive at newfangled milestones . For example , earlier this month , we began the procedure of deleting historical protected U.S. substance abuser data store in non - Oracle servers ; we have a bun in the oven this appendage to be completed after this class . When that summons is complete , all protected U.S. information will be under the protective cover of U.S. law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team . Under this structure , there is no elbow room for the Chinese government activity to get at it or compel approach to it .
In addition , as of January 2023 , all access to systems hold novel protected U.S. user data has been solely controlled by USDS , and all admittance to the new protect information is determine to approve USDS employee . There are some limited exceptions where non - USDS employees may be granted accession to protected data , for example , for legal and compliance , but such access must be expressly authorized by USDS pursuant to a robust data access protocol . Furthermore , no employees of Beijing Douyin Information Service Co. , Ltd. have access to any databases that comprise any protected U.S. exploiter data .
We also have a imaginativeness for where we can go in the futurity . For instance , there would be clear eligibility criteria for newfangled USDS personnel . Data admittance would also be subject to information security controls that would be approved by both a U.S. administration - approved third - company reminder and a third - party attender . And USDS employees would report into an main USDS add-in of director who would be approved by and owe a fiduciary obligation to the federal government .
We are eager to learn feedback and to call any concerns . We continue to believe thatimposing state - of - the - art access and security measure control is the honorable way forwards , not only for TikTok , but for the industry as a whole , and we remain committed to continued interview and to finding innovative answers to what we firmly believe are solvable fear .
I am well cognisant that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concern that our political platform could be used as or become a pecker of China or the Chinese Communist Party . There have even been calls to ban us or take divestment .
I steadfastly believe that all concerns that have been raised have solution . Bans are onlyappropriate when there are no option . But we do have an alternative — one that we believe addresses the concerns we ’ve heard from this Committee and others . We do not believe that a proscription that injure American small business , damages the body politic ’s economic system , silences the voices of over 150 million Americans , and reduces contender in an increasingly centralise market is the solution to a resolvable problem .
alike , divestment does n’t address the profound concern that I have heard , as a variety in ownership would not inflict any new restrictions on information flows or admission . This is not an issue of nationality . All global company face common challenges that demand to be address through guard and transparence . I am gallant that TikTok is get the lead in this arena , and I welcome the opportunity to continue having conversation with the U.S. government to make this role model even better .
To be cleared , our commitment under Project Texas is for the data of all Americans to be stored in America , hosted by an American headquarter company , with memory access to the data controlled by USDS personnel . We offer this framework so that we can continue to accomplish what we value most : being a platform for innocent face beloved by more than 1 billion people , admit over 150 million Americans .
Myths Versus Reality
ultimately , I ’d care to turn to some misconceptions about TikTok .
First , I interpret that there are concerns stanch from the inaccurate belief that TikTok ’s corporate anatomical structure make it lay eyes on to the Chinese government or that it shares information about U.S. users with the Taiwanese government . This is emphatically false .
TikTok is lead by an executive team in the United States and Singapore and has spheric offices , including in Los Angeles , Silicon Valley , Nashville , New York , Washington , D.C. , Dublin , London , Paris , Berlin , Dubai , Singapore , Jakarta , Seoul , and Tokyo . Our headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore . TikTok is not useable in mainland China . As CEO , I am responsible for all line operations and strategical decision for TikTok . TikTok , as a U.S. society incorporated in the United States , is subject to the laws of the United States .
TikTok has never share , or have a postulation to share , U.S. exploiter datum with the Chinese government . Nor would TikTok award such a request if one were ever made . Indeed , a 2021 report from Citizen Lab , an internationally illustrious surety research laboratory , found that there was no overt information transmission by TikTok to the Taiwanese authorities and that TikTok did not meet any server within China .
TikTok publishes information about all requests we get from jurisprudence enforcement in our semiannual Information Requests Report . This includes information about the commonwealth from which the petition spring up . As reflected in this data , no postulation have come from China .
TikTok ’s parent companionship , ByteDance , was founded by Formosan entrepreneurs , but has evolved into a global enterprise since its founding . ByteDance is a privately - held planetary company , with close to 60 percent possess by world institutional investor ( such as Blackrock , General Atlantic , and Sequoia ) , roughly 20 percent owned by the company ’s founders , and more or less 20 percent owned by its employees — including chiliad of Americans . It is not owned or controlled by any politics or state entity . ByteDance ’s board is make up of CEO Rubo Liang , Bill Ford of General Atlantic , Arthur Dantchik of Susquehanna International Group , Philippe Laffont of Coatue , and Neil Shen of Sequoia China .
Let me say this unequivocally : ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other nation . However , for the reasons discussed above , you do n’t simply have to take my tidings on that .
Rather , our approach has been to work transparently and cooperatively with the U.S. government and Oracle to plan robust solution to plow concerns about TikTok ’s heritage .
Second , there are misconception about the type of data that TikTok collect . For instance , there have been a phone number of closet story say that TikTok “ tracks ” people . This is not exact . As noted above , current version of the app do not collect precise or approximate GPS information from U.S. substance abuser .
These are just a couple exercise of some common misconception . I wait forward to address these inaccuracy and others during my testimonial .
Conclusion
TikTok is a vibrant marketplace for a diverse chemical group of more than 1 billion Godhead . As we fulfill our mission to inhale creativity and contribute joyfulness , we remain resolute in our commitment to safety and security , and we look forward to gain the reliance of this Committee and the American populace . We also seem forward to partnering with the Committee on arise clear , consistent rules for the entire industry .
When it comes to protecting our residential district , we know there ’s no finishing line . The industry as a whole faces dynamic and ever - acquire challenge . We will always lick to deploy our team , cock , and resource to meet them and to demonstrate our backbreaking work and transparency .
give thanks you for the opportunity to come along today and to answer interrogative on these important issues .
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