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☆ Where TikTok users may go if the app gets banned
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —On the eve of a high-profile TikTok hearing this week, the company shared that it now has more than 150 million US monthly active users. “This uncertainty could push some TikTok content creators to focus more on, and possibly begin, pushing their audiences to other social network platforms,” Mogharabi said. Snap’s stock rose in the days leading up to TikTok’s appearance before Congress amid renewed talks among federal officials of a TikTok ban. Alex Brandon/APIf that happens, Lian Jye Su, an analyst with ABI Search, believes users will follow their favorite TikTok influencers and content creators wherever they go. For now, talk of a TikTok ban may still be premature.

China and U.S. flags are seen near a TikTok logo in this illustration picture taken July 16, 2020. Florence Lo | ReutersBEIJING — China says it would "strongly oppose" a forced sale of TikTok, making clear the government's involvement with the social media giant that's trying hard to distance itself from Beijing authorities. ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Chinese Commerce Ministry's remarks. But the commerce ministry's claim of control over a TikTok sale or spinoff indicates Beijing wants to be involved. When asked about the commerce ministry's remarks Thursday, TikTok's CEO said the app isn't available in mainland China and is based in Los Angeles.

☆ Amazon’s head of HR rejects employees’ return-to-office petition
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Beth Galetti, the company's HR head, formally responded to a letter that gathered ~30,000 employee signatures. Galetti wrote in her email that Amazon's guiding principle is to "make our customers' lives better and easier every day." My colleague Eugene Kim obtained Galetti's full email and walks us through how Amazon employees feel about the response. In other news:MSCHF's Tax Heaven 3000 dating simulator is supposed to help you prepare your 2022 US federal tax return. Carta offers popular software to help employees manage their equity.

☆ I don't think a shutdown or ban of TikTok is needed, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailI don't think a shutdown or ban of TikTok is needed, analyst saysCameron Kerry of Brookings Institution discusses TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew's U.S. Congress hearing and the question of "[separating] the legal control that ByteDance has from the benefit of its ownership."

March 23 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting "emotional distress" on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app's CEO on the company's outsized influence on teens. Like other social media platforms, TikTok has long faced scrutiny over its policing of content on the app. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein 1 2Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok "exacerbated feelings of emotional stress" in children. Pew Research Center said 67% of U.S. teens ages 13 to 17 use TikTok, and 16% of all teens say they use the app almost constantly. Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas and Rami Ayyub in Washington; Editing by Mark Porter and Lincoln Feast.

☆ TikTok’s Rivals Shouldn’t Bank on Ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew appeared before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Thursday. Facebook, Google, Snapchat and Pinterest have been unable to vanquish TikTok. Now their investors may be a bit too hopeful that the U.S. government will do it for them. Stocks of the parent companies of TikTok’s main U.S. rivals jumped Thursday as Shou Zi Chew —Chief Executive Officer of the red-hot social media app—was grilled before Congress over a host of issues that are mostly related to the company’s Chinese ownership. Mr. Chew’s appearance before the House Energy and Commerce Committee came after the Biden administration threatened earlier this month to ban the app if the company’s Chinese owners didn’t divest their ownership stakes.

☆ TikTok congressional hearing: CEO Shou Chew grilled by US lawmakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

TikTok, which has more than 150 million American users, was repeatedly hammered in the ongoing hearing where no lawmaker offered any support. PARENTS UNHAPPYRepresentative Diana DeGette, a Democrat, said TikTok's efforts to prevent the spread of misinformation on the platform were not working. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein 1 2 3 4 5"You gave me only generalized statements that you're investing, that you're concerned, that you're doing work. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives on Twitter said, "TikTok CEO testimony so far we would characterize as a 'mini disaster' for this key moment for TikTok. TikTok is now poster child of the US/China tensions and lawmakers have a lot of q’s with not enough concrete answers."

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMarch 23 (Reuters) - U.S. lawmakers at a congressional hearing on Thursday accused TikTok of serving harmful content and inflicting "emotional distress" on young users, grilling the Chinese-owned app's CEO on the company's outsized influence on teens. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, kicked off the hearing with TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew saying that within minutes of creating an account on TikTok, the content algorithm promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and encourages "dangerous" challenges that can put kids' lives at risk. Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok "exacerbated feelings of emotional stress" in children. Lawmakers quizzed Chew about whether Americans' user data could be accessed by the Chinese government as well as how it prevented harmful content from reaching young users. Chew later said during the hearing that content such as dangerous challenges were prohibited from TikTok.

☆ Shou Zi Chew: Who is the TikTok CEO testifying before Congress?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinMarch 23 (Reuters) - TikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew has mostly kept a low profile since taking the job in 2021 but on Thursday he is testifying before U.S. lawmakers, many of them suspicious of the popular Chinese-owned social media app. Chew previously worked as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs and investment firm DST, which was an early backer of ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok. TikTok pointedly said in a letter to lawmakers last year that Chew was not from China and that the company is independent of ByteDance. Chew, who is married and has two children, raised his public profile last year by creating his own TikTok account, @shou.time. Chew has told media that TikTok does not threaten U.S. interests.

☆ TikTok CEO faces tough questions from Congress about Chinese influence
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

CEO Shou Zi Chew's testimony before Congress capped a week of actions by the Chinese company aimed at convincing Americans and their lawmakers that the app creates economic value and supports free speech. The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing will be chaired by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican who said she is unconvinced by TikTok's security commitments. Some political experts say a TikTok ban could be damaging to Democrats who have used the platform to reach younger voters. Three House Democrats rallied with TikTok creators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in opposition to a ban. TikTok last week said President Joe Biden's administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban.

☆ TikTok CEO to face tough questions amid calls for U.S. ban
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing will be chaired by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican who says she is unconvinced by TikTok's security commitments. "It's clear that TikTok will say anything to ... ensure that it is not banned in the United States," she told Fox News. Some political experts say a TikTok ban could be damaging to Democrats who have used the platform to reach younger voters. Three House Democrats rallied with TikTok creators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in opposition to a ban. TikTok last week said President Joe Biden's administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban.

☆ TikTok CEO Seeks to Convince Congress Chinese-Owned App Isn’t Security Threat
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( John D. Mckinnon | Ryan Tracy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies Thursday morning at a high-stakes congressional hearing, as safety and security concerns over the Chinese-controlled platform deepen even as its popularity in the U.S. grows. Mr. Chew, a Harvard-educated Singaporean army reservist and former Goldman Sachs banker, will testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, whose members have already signaled concerns that Beijing could influence TikTok content and harvest user data.

☆ Potential TikTok ban sends advertisers scrambling
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Sheila Dang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In recent discussions with ad buyers, TikTok representatives have stuck to the company's current talking points. TikTok employees have played up ongoing plans to separate the user data of Americans and store it in the country. In a section of the email titled "Can the Chinese government request TikTok U.S. user data?" Even with talk of a ban, most advertisers have not changed their spending plans on TikTok, media buyers said, because discussions of a ban have lingered since 2020 without any result. "A ban isn't a ban until it's a ban," he said.

☆ TikTok CEO to face tough questions as support for U.S. ban grows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee hearing will be chaired by Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican who says she is unconvinced by TikTok's security commitments. Some political experts say a TikTok ban could be damaging to Democrats who have used the platform to reach younger voters. Three House Democrats rallied with TikTok creators on Capitol Hill on Wednesday in opposition to a ban. Last week, TikTok said President Joe Biden's administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban. Democratic Senator Mark Warner said on Wednesday two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok - raising the total to 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans.

☆ TikTok creators, some U.S. Democratic lawmakers oppose ban on app
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] TikTok creators hold a news conference to speak out against a possible ban of TikTok at the House Triangle at the United States Capitol in Washington, U.S., March 22, 2023. REUTERS/Evelyn HocksteinWASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - TikTok creators and three U.S. Democratic Party lawmakers on Wednesday said they opposed any potential ban on the Chinese-owned short video sharing app that is used by more than 150 million Americans. Critics fear that TikTok user data in the United States could be passed on to China's government. Pocan said a "xenophobic witch hunt" is motivating some in Congress to seek a TikTok ban. Democratic Senator Mark Warner said two additional senators backed his bipartisan legislation with Republican John Thune to give the Biden administration new powers to ban TikTok.

☆ TikTok CEO says China-based ByteDance employees still have access to some U.S. data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Lawmakers and intelligence officials fear that U.S. user data could get into the hands of the Chinese government via ByteDance. TikTok said Thursday that Project Texas is already in action but there are many steps to reach its completion. The data on those servers is the kind that could theoretically still be accessed by China-based ByteDance employees for the time being. Once that data is deleted, according to TikTok, those employees will no longer have access to U.S. user data from the app. WATCH: TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: I don't condone effort by former employees to access U.S. user data

☆ TikTok pile-on opens two cans of worms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jennifer Saba | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Yet the bipartisan attack on the short-form video app, owned by China-based ByteDance, really points to two different complications – and each, in turn, opens up a much bigger can of worms. The overarching reason for Chew’s appearance is that President Joe Biden’s administration, and many in Congress, think TikTok’s Chinese backing makes it a dangerous tool of the People’s Republic. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers accused TikTok of collecting biometric data and manipulating what information users see. It’s not just TikTok that potentially vacuums up consumer details while having close links to China. Follow @jennifersaba on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSTikTok Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee on March 23.

☆ TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: No evidence that Chinese government has access to data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: No evidence that Chinese government has access to dataTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress for the first time as the popular social media giant is on the brink of a potential ban in the U.S. for its Chinese ownership.

☆ Is TikTok’s time up? CEO’s skewering before Congress raises questions about app’s future in the US
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“TikTok’s fate in the US is on shakier ground than ever following lawmakers’ grueling questioning of Chew,” Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said. The 40-year-old Harvard-educated Chew was never going to get a warm welcome from US lawmakers. Chew, welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress,” Republican Rep. That said, Chew needed to provide clear, direct answers to questions posed by lawmakers, particularly those regarding fears of potential Chinese authority over the company. Instead, his murky answers on questions pertaining to the Communist Party of China led to added confusion at times.

☆ TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: Never had any discussions with Chinese government officials as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: Never had any discussions with Chinese government officials as CEOTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress for the first time as the popular social media giant is on the brink of a potential ban in the U.S. for its Chinese ownership.

☆ The US is bleeding tech workers to other countries — it needs to move fast or risk falling behind.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Diamond Naga Siu | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The US is losing tech workers to other countries. And so, many tech workers are opting to move and work there instead of the US. Plus, many of these countries are making their immigration systems easier for tech workers. My teammates Emilia David and Paayal Zaveri break down how the US is on the brink of losing an entire generation of tech workers. And it showed that Boomers and Gen Z both love many of the same cars, including the Toyota RAV4.

☆ TikTok’s Osama bin Laden Fiasco
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Nearly half the U.S. population uses TikTok, and CEO Shou Zi Chew's testimony before Congress on Mar. Osama bin Laden . Users have been posting videos to the Chinese-owned app, urging their followers to read bin Laden’s 2002 “letter to America,” while suggesting he was on to something. “The number of videos on TikTok is small and reports of it trending on our platform are inaccurate,” the company said. The British newspaper the Guardian unpublished its copy of the bin Laden letter, posted in 2002, because it was being “widely shared on social media without the full context.”

Persons: Shou Zi, Mark Kelly TikTok’s, Osama bin Laden, “, TikTok Organizations: Mar, Chinese Communist Party, Getty, British, Guardian Locations: America

☆ Snapchat and Meta lead social media stocks higher as TikTok CEO gives 'disaster' testimony to Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Snapchat and Meta Platforms jumped on Thursday as the CEO of TikTok gave testimony to Congress. CEO Shou Chew sought to quell concerns that TikTok is a Chinese asset that could spy on its 150 million American users. "We would characterize today's testimony by TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew in the Beltway as a 'disaster' moment," Wedbush said. Both President Biden and former President Trump have called for the social media app to be either banned or sold to a US-based company. According to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, Chew failed at his objective of containing those concerns.

☆ The TikTok hearing is mostly lawmakers berating the CEO and loudly asking 'Yes or no?' to detailed questions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Dan Whateley | Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

TikTok CEO Shou Chew appeared before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday. Chew's remarks were often cut short as Congress members pressed him for "yes" or "no" responses. "Welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress," Republican Rep. Earl LeRoy "Buddy" Carter said, addressing Chew as "Mr. Chew's responses to questions were often cut short as members of Congress asked for shorter "yes" or "no" responses. In the days leading up to the committee hearing, TikTok helped arrange a press conference with Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman that it described as a push "in support of free expression."

☆ TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: We do not remove content at the request of the Chinese government
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew: We do not remove content at the request of the Chinese governmentTikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testifies before Congress for the first time as the popular social media giant is on the brink of a potential ban in the U.S. for its Chinese ownership.

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