At a largely unfriendly congressional session, TikTok CEO Shou Chew sought to defend his company from a potential US ban or forced sale.

“Your platform should be banned,” Energy and Commerce Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said at the opening. “I expect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome.”

Rodgers made a point of reminding Chew that he was sworn in and had a duty, to be honest. During the much-anticipated hearing on Thursday, several members echoed similar caution, highlighting the lack of confidence between the panel and its witness. Although it was a one-note performance, there were some noteworthy parts:

China made its stance clear beforehand

The most significant changes might have occurred prior to the hearing. A representative for the Commerce Ministry, Shu Jueting, stated during a press conference in Beijing that any sale to a US company would require approval from the Chinese government. Whatever guarantees Chew might have been able to make about how the platform secures American data were undercut by that statement.

It also gave lawmakers who were already planning to criticise Chew and his company for worries about data security and content moderation policies as well as the impact of the app on the 150 million US citizens who use it for more than an hour and a half per day on average more ammunition to attack the platform.

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Chew stumbles while playing defence

In front of a chamber of primarily hostile senators who were determined to scrutinise his every statement and even prevented him from speaking, Chew did a decent job of defending himself and his app. The CEO attempted to reassure the members about data security, but his efforts were ineffective, especially when he provided evasive answers to their main worries.

Republican lawmaker from Florida Neal Dunn questioned whether TikTok's parent company, Bytedance Ltd., had "spied on American citizens?"

At one point, he stated, "I don't think that spying is the correct word to describe it," before saying, "Not to my knowledge," in response to a subsequent inquiry about China's capacity to access American data.

Lawmakers piling on could signal trouble

Key statements came from people who weren’t even in the room. Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, took aim at Chew’s alleged “lies and omissions” and said momentum to ban TikTok “is growing.”

Representative Michael McCaul said Chew’s testimony proved that TikTok needed to be sold or banned. The Texas Republican chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over legislation that would ban the app or force it to be sold. Senator Michael Bennet, a Colorado Democrat, said Chew failed to assuage his concerns during a meeting.

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“We would characterise today’s testimony by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in the Beltway as a ‘disaster’ moment that will likely catalyze more calls by lawmakers and the White House to look to ban TikTok within the US if the company does not look to spin-off and force a sale from Chinese parent ByteDance,” Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in a note.

Suicide focus leads to tense moment

TikTok's enormous popularity among young people (and voters) has raised concerns about its content moderation practises, especially whether or whether TikTok's potent algorithm presents harmful content to users who may be struggling with addictions or suicidal thoughts.

Young minds aren't completely matured and are no match for TikTok's technology, according to Maryland Democrat John Sarbanes.

“It’s not a fair fight, the algorithms are on one side of the screen and human brains are on the other side of the screen,” he said.

Gus Bilirakis, a Florida Republican, interrogated Chew on whether he had any influence over the algorithm while playing a collection of TikTok videos about suicide over the room's speakers.

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Chew later told the committee he doesn’t let his children use TikTok. “My kids live in Singapore, and in Singapore, we do not have the under-13 experience,” he said.

Chew says TikTok unfairly targeted

Chew defended TikTok as no different than the other social media giants, saying his company has sought to put even stronger safeguards in place than its competitors due to the intense scrutiny. Lawmakers didn’t seem to buy that argument, citing TikTok’s huge growth in the US.

Behind Chew in the audience for the hearing sat multiple TikTok influencers, supporting the app’s presence in the US because of how critical it has become for their lives and work. “I understand what the Congress people are arguing toward today, and certainly want to hear their perspectives and learn more about any potential dangers,” said Vitus Spehar, whose “UnderTheDeskNews” account has three million followers on TikTok. “But I think that my personal experience is, this is our community. This is where we’ve survived the pandemic together.”

Chew tried to use TikTok’s relevance for young people and small businesses in America as an argument for why the app should get congressional support.

Instead, “it actually strengthened US lawmakers’ argument that TikTok poses a threat to both national security and young people,” said Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg. For TikTok, she said, the US is an incredibly lucrative market, putting billions of dollars at stake if the company’s work here is restricted. After the testimony, “TikTok’s fate in the US is on shakier ground than ever.”

During the hearing, Moody's issued a statement discussing how a ban might affect the share prices of other US social media businesses. Even the notoriously covert Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, which hasn't even acknowledged that it's looking into TikTok, issued a statement with a broad caution about data protection.

(With Bloomberg Inputs)

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