Shou Chew

CEO, TikTok (global), Tiktok Bytedance

Search every verified Shou Chew interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. On March 23, 2023, TikTok CEO Shou Chew testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, where he faced bipartisan questioning regarding TikTok’s data security, user privacy, and potential national security threats. During the hearing, Chew confirmed that Chinese engineers employed by ByteDance have access to global data, although he stated that user data storage is located in Virginia and Singapore. He also said that TikTok does not sell user data to data brokers or any third parties, but when asked to commit to not selling data at all, he said he could not immediately provide an answer without further consideration. Chew further argued that the ownership structure of TikTok is not the central issue, asserting that American social media companies have not had a strong record on data privacy and security, citing the Facebook–Cambridge Analytica scandal as an example. He expressed support for data protection rules and highlighted Project Texas, an initiative aimed at safeguarding U.S. user data through third-party monitoring and firewalls against foreign access. The hearing followed Chew’s outreach to TikTok users via the platform, where he encouraged them to share what they value about the app with their elected representatives.