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TikTok's chief executive and Singaporean entrepreneur Chew Shou Zi, 40, is expected to testify to the U.S. Congress that the Chinese-owned app has never shared data from the U.S. to the Chinese government, Reuters reported.

He will appear before a U.S. Congressional Committee on Mar. 23 and answer American lawmakers’ questions on the Chinese government's access to U.S. user data, plus the impact of the social media platform on youth's mental health, according to The Guardian.

Chew's closely-watched testimony will happen amid rising concerns over American national security and U.S.-China geopolitical tensions.

The Biden administration earlier threatened a potential U.S. ban unless TikTok's China owners sold their stakes in the app.

Due to the high stakes involved, TikTok has been described as a "political punching bag" by the Washington Post for its implications on domestic and foreign policies.

Western security officials have warned that ByteDance, TikTok's Beijing-based parent company could be subject to China's national security legislation, in particular a 2017 law that requires Chinese companies to “support, assist and cooperate” with national intelligence efforts.

Commitments made

According to his written testimony, Chew is expected to list down TikTok's main commitments:

“We will keep safety—particularly for teenagers—a top priority for us”

“We will firewall protected U.S. user data from unauthorised foreign access”

“TikTok will remain a platform for free expression and will not be manipulated by any government”

“We will be transparent and give access to third-party independent monitors, to remain accountable for our commitments”

He also said that TikTok considered Congress as "an important stakeholder".

Never shared any data

Chew is also expected to testify that TikTok has “never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honour such a request if one were ever made.”

On ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company and founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, he commented that the company has evolved into “a global enterprise” ever since its establishment.

“Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew emphasised.

On banning TikTok

Chew acknowledged that he was aware that there were concerns whether TikTok “could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party,” responding to the calls for banning the app or requests for divestment.

“Bans are only appropriate when there are no alternatives,” he said, saying that a ban would only “[silence] the voice of over 150 million Americans” and hurt the economy.

TikTok has been pursuing a US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) data security programme named “Project Texas” to counter the ban and remain operational in the U.S.

Ahead of the congressional hearing, several TikTok content creators gathered in front of the Capitol on Mar. 22 to protest against the app's potential ban, AFP reported.

What led to this?

In 2020, then-U.S. president Donald Trump sought to ban TikTok via an executive order, citing threats to national security.

However, this was stopped by the court and later revoked by current president Joe Biden in 2021, Nikkei Asia reported.

Trump also issued another executive order that required ByteDance to divest its assets in the U.S. and wipe out all its data on American users.

Following this, ByteDance was then unanimously recommended by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to divest TikTok, according to Reuters.

CFIUS is a powerful national agency that reviews the national security implications of foreign investments in the U.S.

In late 2020, ByteDance also tried to seal a deal with major American companies Walmart and Oracle, according to the New York Times.

However, those involved later openly disagreed with how much stake the U.S. companies would have in the Chinese-founded company.

Data issues

TikTok has been in talks with CFIUS for more than two years, attempting to come to an agreement on the security of user data in the U.S., Reuters reported.

TikTok formed a new division in July 2022 called the TikTok U.S. Data Security (USDS) that focused on data protection and protocols.

The subsidiary is employs 1,500 full-time staff and is under contract with Oracle -- a U.S. technology corporation -- for user data storage, according to Reuters.

“Oracle has already begun inspecting TikTok’s source code and will have unprecedented access to the related algorithms and data models,” Chew stated. The Chinese government will have “no way” of accessing or compelling access to protected U.S. data, the CEO added.

The company has also begun the process of deleting historical protected U.S. user data stored in non-Oracle servers, which is expected to be completed later this year.

Messaging issues

Aside from data issues, there have also been questions that TikTok could be used to promote messaging favourable to China's government.

In 2019, the Guardian reported that TikTok directed moderators to censor specific issues or topics, such as videos on the 1989 massacre in Tiananmen Square, or Tibetan independence. Such videos may be marked as "visible to self", which leaves up the video but limits the distribution through the curated feed.

At the time, there were concerns that such guidelines were being used to downplay the Hong Kong protests against the adoption of an extradition law with China. However, TikTok said that the guidelines seen by the Guardian were retired before the protests began, and their new guidelines did not reference specific countries or issues.

In 2022, Buzzfeed reported that according to former employees, TikTok censored negative stories about China's government on their now-defunct news app, TopBuzz. However, ByteDance denied those claims.

Concluding his testimony

Chew wrapped up by reiterating that ByteDance is a “privately-held global company” in which around 60 per cent was owned by global institutional investors, 20 per cent by its founders and another 20 per cent by its staff.

“It is not owned or controlled by any government or state entity”, the CEO reiterated.

Noting that TikTok was a “vibrant place” for more than one billion creators, he expressed the company’s commitment in making the platform safe and secure.

Singapore & rest of the world

The Smart Nation and Digital Government Group in Singapore has announced that TikTok would only be allowed to be downloaded onto government-issued devices on a "need-to" basis.

The use of the app has already been banned from government devices in Taiwan, UK and New Zealand.

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Top images via Getty - Bloomberg/Bryan Van Der Beek & Unsplash/Solen Feyissa