Social media platform TikTok went on the defensive Wednesday following a House Oversight Committee hearing that discussed its ownership.
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr asserted there is “virtually no distinction” between TikTok and its Chinese parent company when Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-OH) asked him about its ownership during the hearing. Carr is the senior Republican on the FCC, having been nominated by former President Donald Trump and unanimously confirmed by the Senate.
“The parent company, as you call it, is ByteDance, with headquarters in Beijing,” Carr explained. “The Chinese government actually has a small ownership stake in ByteDance as well. There’s been reports of over 100 CCP members located in just the Beijing office of ByteDance alone.”
TIKTOK ADDS FILTERS TO LIMIT TEENAGE ACCESS TO ADULT CONTENT
ByteDance is the parent company of TikTok and is headquartered in Beijing.
The Chinese Communist Party has an ownership stake in ByteDance.
Reports suggest more than 100 CCP members are located in ByteDance’s Beijing office.
@RepBobGibbs gets to the heart of the issue. pic.twitter.com/5BT6gEfiKX— Oversight Committee Republicans (@GOPoversight) July 13, 2022
“So it’s pretty obvious and clear that the Chinese Communist government has access to TikTok,” Gibbs responded.
This assertion about our ownership is mistaken. As described in our letter to Sen. Blackburn, a Chinese state-owned enterprise has a 1% stake in a different ByteDance subsidiary called Beijing Douyin Information Service Limited, not in TikTok’s parent company. https://t.co/Ws9Ej33x6V
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) July 14, 2022
“This assertion about our ownership is mistaken,” TikTok’s Communication team responded on Twitter. “As described in our letter to Sen. Blackburn (R-TN), a Chinese state-owned enterprise has a 1% stake in a different ByteDance subsidiary called Beijing Douyin Information Service Limited, not in TikTok’s parent company.”
When Carr was asked about the possibility of banning the platform across the United States, he suggested, “We can, and I think we should.”
“ByteDance engineers around the world may assist in developing those algorithms. However, our solution with Oracle will ensure that training of the TikTok algorithm only occurs in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and will also ensure appropriate third-party security vetting and validation of the algorithm,” TikTok explained in its June letter to nine senators. “We have not been asked for such data from the CCP. We have not provided U.S. user data to the CCP, nor would we if asked.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
However, ByteDance, with its purported 100 CCP employees that take turns in their duties and social media duties, do have a say in hiring “key personnel at TikTok,” according to the letter.
