About Shou Chew
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.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Shou Chew's recent appearances.
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Transcript (3 segments)
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Chair0:00
Our witness today is Mr. Shou Chew, chief executive officer of TikTok. You're recognized for five minutes.
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Shou Chew0:09
Thank you, Chair Rogers, Ranking Member Pallone, members of the committee. I am Shou Chew, from Singapore. After serving in Singapore's military, I moved to the UK for college and then to the US for business school, where I met my wife. Two years ago, I became CEO of TikTok. Today, we have over a billion monthly active users worldwide, including over 150 million in the United States, and close to 5 million American businesses use TikTok. We prioritize teen safety with measures like no direct messaging for under 16, a 16-minute watch time default for under 18, family pairing tools, and a dedicated STEM feed with over 116 billion views. On national security, ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government; it is a private company with 60% global institutional investors, 20% founder, and 20% employees. Three of five board members are American. TikTok is not available in mainland China; we are headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore with 7,000 US employees. We built Project Texas, a firewall that seals off protected US user data from unauthorized foreign access. American data is stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel. Oracle stores US TikTok data, and a new company, TikTok US Data Security, controls access. Legacy data in Virginia and Singapore is being deleted this year. This eliminates concerns about Chinese law access. We also provide unprecedented transparency: third-party validators like Oracle review our source code and algorithms, and we give researchers access. Trust is earned through actions. These issues are not unique to TikTok; we need clear rules for all tech companies. I make four commitments: keep safety a top priority, especially for teens; firewall protected US data; keep TikTok a place for free expression not manipulated by any government; and remain transparent with independent monitors. I look forward to your questions. Thank you.
