Senators grill TikTok about ties to ByteDance

Sens. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Tuesday demanded answers from TikTok about its ties to ByteDance, the social media platform’s Beijing-based parent company, following a report of high-level executives moving between the two companies.

Several ByteDance executives have been transferred to TikTok since the beginning of the year, taking on top jobs at the company and sometimes moving from China to the U.S., the Wall Street Journal reported last week. 

The moves have sparked concerns among U.S.-based TikTok employees, particularly given TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew’s efforts to emphasize the separation between the company and ByteDance before Congress earlier this year, according to the Journal.

“In response to these widespread concerns, TikTok has repeatedly made commitments and representations to the American public about the independent management of TikTok’s operations, the limited role of ByteDance, and the security of U.S. users’ information,” Blackburn and Blumenthal said in Tuesday’s letter to Chew.

“However, the recent move of many ByteDance executives to the U.S. seemingly undermines this assertion to Congress and the public,” they added.

Chew appeared before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce in March, where he faced a five-hour grilling from both Republicans and Democrats about data privacy, kids’ online safety and national security concerns.

The chief of the concerns about TikTok stem from its ties to China, whose national security laws give the government significant abilities to access data from Chinese companies. However, Chew maintained in March that the Chinese government had never sought out TikTok’s data.

“I have seen no evidence that the Chinese government has access to that data,” he said at the time. “They have never asked us, and we have not provided it.”

The TikTok CEO also pointed to the company’s Project Texas, which sought to address national security concerns by routing and storing American data with the Texas-based software company Oracle.

However, in light of the reporting from the Journal, Blackburn and Blumenthal noted that the recent staff changes “appear to align with a pattern of misleading actions and broken commitments” from TikTok.

“The personnel changes give the impression that TikTok is attempting to preserve ByteDance’s influence over TikTok while avoiding suspicion,” they wrote on Tuesday.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that they “welcome the opportunity to provide the Senators facts and context” about the recent employee moves.

“In a large, global organization, it is not uncommon for employees to work on different products or geographies over the course of their career,” the spokesperson added. “This is neither a recent development, nor is it unique to TikTok.”