Сoncerns voiced by some states about TikTok potentially transmitting user data to the Chinese government are “hypothetical and theoretical”, company CEO Shou Zi Chew told the US Congress.
“I think a lot of risks pointed out are hypothetical and theoretical risks. I haven’t seen any evidence. I am legally awaiting discussions to talk about evidence,” Chew told the US House Energy and Commerce Committee during a hearing on Thursday.
The TikTok executive was responding to a question from US Congresswoman Debbie Lesko, a member of the House committee, who reminded that countries such as New Zealand, Canada, the UK, and Belgium had previously placed partial bans on the installation of TikTok in one way or another.
Regarding India, the country banned TikTok back in June 2020.
Lesko also said that an article in Forbes Magazine quoted an anonymous TikTok employee as alleging that any company employee based in Beijing, which is the headquarters of ByteDance, could access user data on TikTok. ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok.
“This is a recent article. I have asked my team to look into it… We have data access protocols. There is no such thing as just anyone getting access to the tools,” stated Chew, adding that he didn’t agree with most of the information in the Forbes article.
India’s Ban of TikTok
India is the only country that has introduced a blanket ban on TikTok.
Nearly 60 Chinese apps, including TikTok, were banned by India’s Ministry of Electronics and IT in June 2020.
The ministry said that the Chinese apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of the state and public order."
It said that complaints from “various sources” had informed that these apps were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorized manner."
The decision was announced after a deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the eastern Ladakh region’s Galwan Valley left 20 Indian and four People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops dead.