WASHINGTON — Two lawmakers questioning TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before a House panel last week flashed their tech credentials, challenging Chew’s reassurances about the safety of the video sharing app for U.S. users.
Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., who owns a video game development studio and is a rare House Energy and Commerce Committee member with a background in computer science and information technology, pushed Chew to explain how a third-party review of software code would work. Chew told the panel such a review could check for gaps that could allow China to snoop on Americans.
Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, a former U.S. Air Force officer turned entrepreneur who owned information technology companies providing services to the Pentagon, took Chew on over his interpretation of a report on the app’s privacy, security and censorship.
