TikTok's Chief Executive Shou Zi Chew was brought before U.S. lawmakers Thursday to testify about consumer privacy, child safety and data security practices on the mobile-app platform. Meanwhile, rival Snap stock jumped, as did shares of Facebook-parent Meta Platforms and Alphabet, the parent of Google and YouTube.
Chew went before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and was greeted with this opening from panel chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers: "Your platform should be banned."
CNN reported that Rodgers, a Republican from Washington state, added: "I expect today you'll say anything to avoid this outcome."
She went on to say: "We aren't buying it. In fact, when you celebrate the 150 million American users on TikTok, it emphasizes the urgency for Congress to act. That is 150 million Americans that the (Chinese Communist Party) can collect sensitive information on."
TikTok Response
Chew responded that TikTok is not available in mainland China, is based in Los Angeles and has 7,000 U.S. employees.
"Still, we have heard important concerns about the potential for unwanted foreign access to U.S. data and potential manipulation of the TikTok US ecosystem," Chew said, according to CNN. "Our approach has never been to dismiss or trivialize any of these concerns. We have addressed them with real action."
In a rare moment of bipartisanship, both Republicans and Democrats, as well as President Joe Biden, have called for TikTok's parent company, China-based ByteDance, to divest the app. If not, Washington wants it banned.
Last week, the U.K. announced it will block TikTok from government devices. Both the UK and the U.S. are concerned the China government could gain access to the data collected by TikTok and use it in a variety of unwanted ways.
Snap Stock: Closest Rival To TikTok
Snap stock jumped 3.1% to close at 11.39 on the stock market today. Its Snapchat is the closest rival to TikTok. Both apps function as a video-sharing platform on smartphones.
The rapid rise of the TikTok app has been a detriment not only to Snap, but to Meta's Instagram, and the YouTube unit of Alphabet.
Snap stock has popped each time there are threats against TikTok as it is the only pure-play competitor. But Meta stock also got a lift, rising 2.2% to close Thursday at 204.28. Alphabet also climbed 2.2% to finish at 105.60.
Please follow Brian Deagon on Twitter at @IBD_BDeagon for more on tech stocks, analysis and financial markets.
