Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s CEO, is beginning his testimony with an emphasis on his Singaporean heritage. He has tried this strategy before in a letter to lawmakers when he first took over the company. TikTok is run by a Singaporean based in Singapore, he wrote in that letter, and not beholden to the Chinese government.
Chew is also emphasizing that the company’s 150 million users in the US use the platform for various purposes that includes educational videos.
To address the lawmakers’ national security concerns, Chew is talking about Project Texas – an effort to move all US data to domestic servers. He said the company is deleting all user data that is backed up to servers outside the US, and that it should all be deleted later this year.
”Trust is about actions we take, we have to earn your trust with decisions we make … the potential security, privacy … concerns are not unique to us. We believe what’s needed are clear transparent rules that address all tech companies,” Chew said.
He ends with this: “There are more than 150 million users who love our platform and we know we have a responsibility to protect them which is why I am making the following commitments to you and all our users:
1) We will keep safety, particularly for teenagers as a top priority for us.
2) We will firewall protected US data from unwanted foreign access
3) TikTok will remain a place for free expression and not be manipulated by any government
4) We will be transparent and we will give access to third-party independent monitors to remain accountable for our commitments.”
