TikTok CEO faces US committee hearing over safety concerns | ABC News

US lawmakers have hammered TikTok CEO, Shou Chew with questions about Chinese government control of TikTok and content that may damage young people's mental health during a 4.5hr hearing. Subscribe: http://ab.co/1svxLVE Read more here: https://ab.co/3K4182U Shou Zi Chew's rare public appearance came at a crucial time for the company, which has 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from US officials. TikTok and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology. In a bipartisan effort to reign in the power of a major social media platform, Republican and Democratic politicians pressed Mr Chew on a host of topics ranging from TikTok's content moderation practices, how the company plans to secure American data from Beijing, and its spying on journalists. Mr Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, told the House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritised the safety of its young users and denied it was a national security risk. He reiterated the company's plan to protect US user data by storing it on servers maintained and owned by the software giant Oracle. ABC News provides around the clock coverage of news events as they break in Australia and abroad, including the latest coronavirus pandemic updates. It's news when you want it, from Australia's most trusted news organisation. For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 Go deeper on our ABC News In-depth channel: https://ab.co/2lNeBn2 Like ABC News on Facebook:   / abcnews.au   Follow ABC News on Instagram:   / abcnews_au   Follow ABC News on Twitter:   / abcnews   Note: In most cases, our captions are auto-generated. #ABCNews #ABCNewsAustralia