TikTok CEO Shou ZI Chew has faced almost 5 years of questioning from US Congress members over the concerns of security concerns and the potential Chinese government’s influence.

‘ByteDance is not an agent of China’

This was the first visit of Zi Chew’s before the US lawmakers as the TikTok CEO. On Thursday, the hearing witnessed bipartisan calls for banning the app. However, he tried to assuage their concerns by saying, “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.”

During the hearing, the US lawmakers consistently tried to heat the issue as they wanted to know whether the Chinese government had access to TikTok’s millions of users’ data or not.

While asking the question, US lawmaker Debbie Lesko quoted that India and other countries that have recently banned TikTok in some form.

“This (TikTok) is a tool which is ultimately under the control of the Chinese government and screams out with national security concerns Mr Chew. How can all of these countries and our FBI director be wrong?” asked Debbie Lesko.

Responding to the question, Chew said, “I think a lot of risks pointed out are hypothetical and theoretical risks. I have not seen any evidence.”

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US stresses India’s ban on TikTok

Further, the US lawmaker reiterated and stressed the India ban again.

During the hearing, Lesko informed, “India banned TikTok in 2020. On March 21, a Forbes article revealed how data of Indian citizens who used TikTok remained accessible to employees at the company and its Beijing-based parent. A current TikTok employee told Forbes that nearly anyone with basic access to company tools can easily look up the closest contact and other sensitive information about any user.”

Replying to this, the TkTok CEO said that they are looking into the testimony of the TikTok employee quoted by Forbes and asserted that he disagrees with the conclusions drawn from that article.

Moreover, he said, “This is a recent article; I have asked my team to look into it. We have rigorous data access protocols. There is no such thing as anybody can access the tools. So, I disagree with a lot of the conclusions.”

TikTok banned in India

India banned TikTok and dozens of other Chinese apps over privacy and security concerns in 2020. The ban was imposed in the nation shortly after a clash between Indo-Chinese troops at the Ladakh border in Galwan Valley LAC where 20 Indian soldiers were killed.

The companies were given a chance to respond to questions on privacy and security requirements but the ban was made permanent in January 2021.