GOP presses TikTok on US data

Two high-ranking House Republicans are asking TikTok for more information about the access that China-based employees of its parent company ByteDance have to American data.

“We write to request documents and information regarding recent reports that TikTok allows China-based employees of its parent company, ByteDance, to access non-public U.S. user data, contrary to the company’s previous denials,” the top Republican on the Oversight committee, James Comer (R-Ky.), and top Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), wrote in a letter to TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

“If true, not only did TikTok misrepresent or provide false testimony about its data management and security practices, but it has placed the safety and privacy of millions of U.S. citizens in jeopardy,” they added in the letter sent Thursday.

The short form video platform had maintained since exploding in popularity in the U.S. that data from Americans was not accessible in China, where security laws make it easy for the government to obtain information held by companies.