TikTok’s CEO will tell US Congress his app is safer than most

A supporter holds up a sign that read 'Keep TikTok' during a news conference on TikTok in front of the US Capitol on March 22, 2023 in Washington, DC. — AFP

TikTok chief executive officer Shou Chew plans to tell Congress his app does more to protect young users than rival social media and that Beijing has no authority over its data, invoking familiar arguments to head off a US ban or forced sale.

The app owned by Chinese Internet leader ByteDance Ltd expends a lot of effort protecting its mostly youthful contingent, Chew plans to say when he testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday, according to prepared comments reviewed by Bloomberg News. And the executive, who took the helm of the viral video phenom just two years ago, reiterated that it would never share information demanded by the Communist Party, which has no sway over ByteDance’s US- and Singapore-based subsidiary.