As Congress weighs ban, CEO of TikTok Shou Zi Chew will appear for a hearing

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will testify before Congress next week, as some lawmakers continue to push for a ban on the social media platform.

Chew’s highly anticipated testimony comes as the app’s parent company, ByteDance, comes under increasing fire from lawmakers on Capitol Hill over its connections to the Chinese government.

He is expected to face aggressive questioning from lawmakers on the app's ties and handling of private user data. 

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When is the TikTok CEO testifying before Congress? 

Chew will speak at 10 a.m. Thursday, March 23, during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on the popular social media app’s data security and privacy practices. 

“Americans deserve to know the extent to which their privacy is jeopardized and their data is manipulated by ByteDance-owned TikTok’s relationship with China,” the committee said in a statement Thursday.

TikTok ban gains bipartisan momentum in Congress 

Next week’s testimony will be the first time Chew makes an appearance before Congress. With momentum building on Capitol Hill for some sort of action, Chew is likely to be grilled by lawmakers from both sides of the aisle over what the company does with private user data.

The app’s ties to the Chinese government have raised concerns from officials who say TikTok’s collection of user data could be weaponized. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee last Wednesday that TikTok could be used to spread misinformation.

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© MANDEL NGAN, AFP via Getty Images FBI Director Christopher Wray testifies during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, in Washington, DC, on March 8, 2023.

"This is a tool that is ultimately within the control of the Chinese government and it, to me, it screams out with national security concerns," Wray said.

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill last Tuesday that would give the federal government broader authority to regulate and ban foreign-linked technology that the Department of Commerce considers a threat to national security, including TikTok.

The bill earned the endorsement of the White House, which lauded the bill as “a systematic framework for addressing technology-based threats to the security and safety of Americans.”

© Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., talks to reporters while introducing the Restrict Act with (L-R) Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Sen. Michael Bennett, D-Colo., Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., and Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, at the U.S. Capitol on March 07, 2023 in Washington, DC.

Biden administration threatens to ban TikTok

The Biden administration most recently threatened to ban TikTok if its Chinese owners do not sell their stakes in the company in its most significant move as it cracks down on the app.

Earlier in February, the White House announced that federal agencies will have to remove TikTok from all government-issued devices given national security concerns with exceptions for “law enforcement activities, national security interests and activities, and security research.”

© VALERIE MACON, AFP via Getty Images In this file photo taken on November 17, 2020, the TikTok building, in Culver City, California. - The US government has told China-based ByteDance to sell its shares in the blockbuster TikTok app or face a national ban, the Wall Street Journal reported on March 15, 2023.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: As Congress weighs ban, CEO of TikTok Shou Zi Chew will appear for a hearing