TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew testified today before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. And it’s been quite a spectacle. Lots of stuff happening.
Fortunately, we’ve got Washington Post tech reporter Drew Harwell on the hearing beat to break down the proceedings for us. And who better to cover this than the Washington Post?
REMINDER: @politico, @washingtonpost, @PunchbowlNews, @axios, and more have all taken untold thousands of dollars from @tiktok_us in the run up to this hearing
(60/xx) https://t.co/3P7CthAXuh
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) March 23, 2023
It’s important to stick to reporting on what you know. And that’s exactly what Drew’s doing. Just look:
Today, members of Congress who have never used TikTok will be calling for the ban of a free-expression platform used by 150 million across the U.S. We’re covering it all here: https://t.co/IFixoyiCb8
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
I got lunch with TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew last month. He’s a Singapore-born, Harvard-educated, former Facebook intern: “It’ll be a real shame if our users around the world are not able to hear” U.S. voices anymore https://t.co/rVI4hqakm3
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
Must’ve been some lunch. Based on Drew’s tweets about the hearing today, we’re guessing Chew picked up the tab.
The hearing has started. @cathymcmorris says TikTok collects “nearly every data point imaginable,” which is not nearly true, as @geoffreyfowler‘s technical analysis found: https://t.co/Xll9NxU0fU pic.twitter.com/03XB8R8BNu
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
“Not nearly true,” you guys.
Congressional hearing day for TikTok is already off to a rough start.
TikTok’s testimony claims that a study shows it does not send data to the CCP.
Yet the authors of that study are out with a strong statement this morning saying that its study makes no such finding at all https://t.co/vJf3W5evwG
— Brendan Carr (@BrendanCarrFCC) March 23, 2023
Don’t worry. Drew Harwell’s not nearly finished:
For actual facts on TikTok, we’ve written about:
* how TikTok ate the internet: https://t.co/5rBpyxBsWz
* how its wild virality can be a curse: https://t.co/TIEf3s3uIG
* how it became a proxy for American anxieties about the web: https://t.co/ZnTlzdv15U
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
Here are lots of videos about the pro-democracy Tiananmen Square protests on TikTok that @cathymcmorris incorrectly just suggested don’t exist: https://t.co/DK9m75XjFh
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
“Does TikTok access the home wi-fi network” is the new “Senator, we run ads”
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
Members of Congress seem surprised by the fact that China has said it would resist the sale of TikTok. We’ve known that for three years; the government added the algorithm to an export-ban list when Trump tried to force a sale last time https://t.co/hj4F0uujHf
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
TikTok might downplay its ownership by a China-based company because members of Congress keep saying it’s a secret Chinese spying machine owned by the Chinese Communist Party with zero evidence.
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
“Zero evidence.”
ByteDance’s chief executive Liang Rubo is not a member of the Chinese Communist Party. Members of Congress have said that, wrongly, then not allowed TikTok’s chief to respond.
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
Congressional Republicans are speaking quite enviously of the kinds of aggressive, suppressive social media content moderation techniques imposed by the Chinese government.
— Drew Harwell (@drewharwell) March 23, 2023
OK, that seems like a good enough place to stop. The floor’s getting wet from all the water splashing out of the buckets Drew’s carrying.
Man just look at you go. https://t.co/shA95ez8SK
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 23, 2023
Yeah, look at him! Such a good little soldier.
You sound like TikTok pays you. Oh: right. https://t.co/aRjxSCvhnz
— 2023 sucks (@AnthonyBialy) March 23, 2023
Well, yeah. They kinda do, remember?
Tech reporter for the Washington Post. Also in the Washington Post: https://t.co/T7AH70uL4L pic.twitter.com/mDqNgPLXWj
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 23, 2023
Sorry, I must’ve missed the news when WaPo got acquired by @CGTNOfficial
— Scott Hsu (@scotthsutw1) March 23, 2023
Maybe it happened when Drew and Chew went to lunch.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew refuses FOUR TIMES to admit the Chinese Communist Party is persecuting the Uyghur population pic.twitter.com/tOUzELN13R
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) March 23, 2023
We won’t hold our breath for Drew to press him on that.
Do… you not know what communism is? https://t.co/g04Y04WnIH
— RBe (@RBPundit) March 23, 2023
Well, he clearly doesn’t know what journalism is.
✍️uh✍️oh✍️ https://t.co/vphp2LH5pm pic.twitter.com/6HHiFeFN0E
— The List (@ListComesForAll) March 23, 2023
Heh.
Zero evidence? https://t.co/T7AH70udfd
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 23, 2023
zErO eViDEnCe! pic.twitter.com/VRU8OdXS00
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) March 23, 2023
Zero evidence? Are you actually on drugs right now? https://t.co/fPumO342DP
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 23, 2023
Maybe you should read your own newspaper, Drew. https://t.co/ZFZ2WsWAoP
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 23, 2023
Bless his heart.
https://t.co/fHvZAzCxQn pic.twitter.com/if14uvkOcN
— Omri Ceren (@omriceren) March 23, 2023
— Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) March 23, 2023
Well, that’s exactly what it is, so.
found the secret Chinese spy https://t.co/7Fh378B28F
— NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) March 23, 2023
With tech “reporters” like these, why is Chinese spyware @tiktok_us even spending over $10 million on lobbyists?
(58/xx) https://t.co/wmHKnd51cG
— Matthew Foldi (@MatthewFoldi) March 23, 2023
Good question.
***
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