On Wednesday, CEO of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, appeared in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Republican Senator (R-AR) Tom Cotton repeatedly questioned Chew’s connection to China. After stating that he is Singaporean, Cotton pressed on.
Chew testified on Capitol Hill along with CEOs of Meta, X, Snap, and Discord on the risk of child welfare on their platforms in a hearing called Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis. They testified in front of Congress and the affected families.
After Chew stated that his nationality is Singaporean and that he served the mandatory military service there, Cotton asked Chew, “have you ever been a member of the Chinese Communist Party?”
“Senator, I’m Singaporean, no,” Chew said.
Cotton pressed on: “Have you ever been associated with or affiliated with the Chinese Community Party?”
To which Chew responded with growing frustration: “No, senator, again, I’m Singaporean.”
According to CBS News, Chew was born in Singapore in 1983. After completing the mandatory military service in Singapore as a teenager, he attended University College London in England and later Harvard Business School.
After graduating, Chew spent a decade working in Hong Kong and Beijing, joining TikTok and its parent company ByteDance in 2021 as TikTok CEO and ByteDance Chief financial officer.
The New Republic reported that TikTok, which is headquartered in China, is a popular target for politicians on both sides of the aisle who are eager to seem tough on China. A company associated with the Chinese government also owns one percent stake in Bytedance, TikTok’s parent company.
Tom Cotton defended himself on Fox News’ “The Story With Martha MacCallum” on Wednesday, according to the Hill.
“Singapore, unfortunately, is one of the places in the world that has the highest degree of infiltration and influence by the Chinese Communist Party,” Cotton said, “So, Mr. Chew has a lot to answer for, for what his app is doing in America and why it’s doing it.”
This is not the first time that lawmakers have suggested Chew’s connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Last March, Chew appeared in front of the House when the U.S threatened to ban TikTok for its Chinese owners. Representative Dan Crenshaw questioned if TikTok has to turn over data collected in the U.S to the Chinese Communist Party, to which Chew responded: “I’m Singaporean.”
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It won’t matter what the topic of the hearing is, Congress seems to always badger any TikTok representative with the same questions about associations to China and ignoring the answer. This is just like the Hollywood blacklist era. And, they will constantly use the phrase “Chinese Communist Party” just like Trump uses “China Virus” to stoke the flames of hate.
If the goal is to protect children, then Congress would direct the same questions to each social media representatives about what they are doing to protect the children. If the concern is another country’s access to the collected data, then ask every social media company rep about their associations and data access by any other country.
Congress’s approach demonstrates targeted racism intended to stoke Anti-Asian Hate and Anti-Chinese sentiment. It also creates a convenient diversion. What US citizens’ data from US applications does the US govt have access to and what do they do with it?