A Recap Of The Best And Worst From Today's TikTok Ban Hearing

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TikTok might finally be reaching a conclusion to the "United States TikTok Ban": saga that has been brewing for the past few years, after its CEO Shou Zi Chew finally went up to testify in front of the United States Congress on March 23rd, 2023. This isn't the first time a Big Tech CEO has been put on trial; Mark Zuckerberg's uncanny delivery at his Congressional testimony led to countless memes that mocked how he delivered his lines and even how he drank his water.

As Shou Zi Chew's testimony comes to a close, it's time to look back on how exactly the US Government decided to put pressure on the Chinese company that has been giving tough competition to domestic US social media corporations in the past few years. Were the Congressmen able to dredge up any damning evidence to make Zi Chew sweat? Or was it just another Chinese Spy Balloon fiasco?

Who Is Shou Zi Chew?

Shou Zi Chew is the CEO of TikTok and has held his position since early 2021 when he replaced former CEO, Kevin Mathers. Chew has been part of ByteDance, the company that developed TikTok, for years before his current position. But Zi Chew has had an illustrious career way before TikTok as well; he has previously worked at Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and smartphone company Xiaomi Corp.

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Why Was TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew Testifying Before Congress?

TikTok has been dominating short-form video content for several years now and poses a threat to US-grown tech companies like Meta and Twitter. Moreover, TikTok's supposed data harvesting practices pose a national security threat the US government is eager to address.

In late 2022, the Biden administration passed a bill that banned TikTok from all Federal government devices. The bill eventually went before the House of Representatives, and the TikTok CEO had to testify in order to defend his company against accusations of data privacy infringement… among other things.

Did US Congressmen Bring Up TikTok Memes In The Hearing?

Various US Congressmen brought up TikTok memes and challenges in the hearing, including a bizarre segment where Florida Congressman Bilirakis brought up a CoreCore staple, Player Tip.

It didn't stop there; Congresswoman Cammack from Florida stumbled upon a Slow Motion Gun Animation clip that she asserts is a "call for murder" against her colleague. Funnily enough, the meme originates from iFunny, not TikTok, and the user's handle reads @ifunnyr3t4rduser.

In another section of the hearing, Congressman Carter asked the TikTok CEO whether he knew the exact number of how many kids the app had killed, a question Zi Chew found difficult to answer.