House Democrat presses TikTok CEO for ‘unanswered’ questions on data privacy, kids’ safety

The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing TikTok to answer questions raised by members of the panel about data privacy, kids’ online safety and national security concerns.

Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (N.J.), ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce panel, sent a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew pressing him to address “unanswered questions” raised by members of the panel during a hearing with the top executive last month.

“We were hoping that you could allay some of our concerns at the hearing, but unfortunately many of our questions remain unanswered,” Pallone wrote, asking Shou to reply by April 27.

The questions ask TikTok to detail how it collects and uses data, as well as specifically how it caters to minors on the platform. 

A TikTok spokesperson said “we look forward to the opportunity to address the Committee members’ questions,” in response to the letter. 

The letter and earlier hearing follows growing bipartisan scrutiny over TikTok. Lawmakers in both parties support banning the app, and many are lining up behind a bipartisan bill that would give the administration power to review and ultimately ban apps with ties to foreign adversaries, such as TikTok. 

As Pallone pointed out in his letter, some of the concerns raised at the hearing for TikTok have been raised about the social media industry as a whole. 

“Last month’s hearing reinforced Americans’ fears that social media platforms, including TikTok, have been collecting, using, sharing, and selling their data without meaningful limit,” Pallone wrote. 

In addition to the widespread concerns about the collection and use of American’s data, concerns about how social media platforms affect minors have been raised about other apps, such as Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. 

For those reasons, progressive lawmakers have come out against a proposed TikTok ban, arguing instead for a broader conversation about data privacy and social media. They have also raised concerns it would pose about free speech. 

But others have argued that TikTok, which is owned by Chinese-based company ByteDance, poses specific national security concerns. Pallone wrote that the concerns about data are “heightened when it comes to TikTok” based on the Chinese-based parent company and its “susceptibility to the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.”

TikTok has pushed back on allegations that it poses national security threats.