Just months away from being banned in the U.S., the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears to be putting some salt in TikTok’s wound. The agency has issued a bizarre message about referring a complaint about the social media app to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
Will Banning TikTok Solve Privacy Issues? | Future Tech
The FTC issued a statement on Tuesday saying its investigations “uncovered reason to believe” that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, are “violating or are about to violate the law.” The commission says the violations (or would-be violations) are of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) and the FTC Act but didn’t provide specifics. Also, the statement mentions how making this action public is something the FTC doesn’t normally do, but it determined that it was in the public’s interest to release the statement. So, we’re letting you know that they think you should know.
A DOJ spokesperson says they can’t comment on the substance of the referral, but the department did consult with the FTC in advance and is considering the claim.
In the statement, the FTC mentions how its investigation began in 2019 with Musical.ly, the predecessor of TikTok. Back then, the commission did find that the company was “aware that a significant percentage of users were younger than 13 and received thousands of complaints from parents” and issued a fine of $5.7 million. It’s unclear if this complaint against TikTok is related or if the investigation found other violations.
TikTok says it has been working with the FTC for more than a year to address concerns it may have.
“We’re disappointed the agency is pursuing litigation instead of continuing to work with us on a reasonable solution,” a TikTok spokesperson said in an emailed statement Tuesday. “We strongly disagree with the FTC’s allegations, many of which relate to past events and practices that are factually inaccurate or have been addressed. We’re proud of and remain deeply committed to the work we’ve done to protect children and we will continue to update and improve our product.”
TikTok is not in the best spot right now, although it’s still incredibly popular. In April, President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring the divestment of TikTok or else face a U.S. ban. The social app is on the 270-day clock to figure out something, or it could wait for the upcoming presidential election and hope Trump wins as he’s suddenly come around to support TikTok. Maybe he found a dance that he liked watching on the app.
Nebraska is suing social media giant TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, claiming the platform targets minors with “addictive design” and is “fueling a youth mental health crisis.”
“TikTok has shown no regard for the wreckage its exploitative algorithm is leaving behind,” Attorney General Mike Hilgers said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in state court Wednesday, claims the platform engages in “deceptive and unfair trade practices” by claiming it is “family-friendly” and “safe for young users.”
The lawsuit alleges TikTok does not adhere to its own Community Guidelines, which states the platform does not allow “content that may put young people at risk.” The platform has also spent millions on advertising stating it’s suitable for young people, the complaint alleges, and representatives of TikTok have testified repeatedly the company monitors for harmful content and removes content that risks harm to minors or otherwise violates the Community Guidelines.
But the lawsuit alleges the opposite is true and that teens and children are shown inappropriate content based on the platform’s algorithm and “addictive design.”
As part of its investigation, Nebraska created TikTok accounts for fictitious minor users registered as 13, 15, and 17 years old, the lawsuit said. Within minutes, the lawsuit claims, the teen users were directed to inappropriate content by the TikTok algorithm, including videos described in graphic detail in the lawsuit as simulating sexual acts and encouraging eating disorders.
Much of the content pushed to minors is encouraged by the “For You” feed, the lawsuit claims, which shows users the alleged inappropriate content without them searching for similar videos. Instead, the video just pops into minors’ feeds uninvited, the lawsuit claims.
Hilgers said kids are shown “inappropriate content, ranging from videos that encourage suicidal ideation and fuel depression, drive body image issues, and encourage eating disorders to those that encourage drug use and sexual content wildly inappropriate for young kids.”
These interactions have fueled “a youth mental health crisis in Nebraska,” the lawsuit said.
TikTok refutes the allegations.
“TikTok has industry-leading safeguards to support teens’ well-being, including age-restricted features, parental controls, an automatic 60-minute time limit for people under 18, and more. We will continue working to address these industry-wide concerns,” a company spokesperson told CBS News in a statement.
Nebraska’s lawsuit comes as TikTok battles the U.S. government over recent legislation requiring the platform to cut ties with its China-based owner within a year or be effectively banned from the United States.
More than 30 states and the federal government have banned the app on state- or government-issued devices. Montana became the first state to ban the app last May, a few months later a federal judge overturned the ruling, in part because the ban “infringes on the Constitutional rights of users and businesses.”
— Melissa Quinn and C. Mandler contributed reporting.
Cara Tabachnick is a news editor at CBSNews.com. Cara began her career on the crime beat at Newsday. She has written for Marie Claire, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. She reports on justice and human rights issues. Contact her at cara.tabachnick@cbsinteractive.com
Washington — TikTok, the widely popular social media app, and its parent company ByteDance filed a lawsuit against the Justice Department on Tuesday over a new law that requires the platform to cut ties with its China-based owner within a year or be effectively banned from the United States.
The petition filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., alleges that the measure signed into law by President Biden last month is unconstitutional in part because it violates the First Amendment rights of its users in the U.S. by effectively shutting down their access to the popular forum. Filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the petition calls for the court to block Attorney General Merrick Garland from enforcing the measure.
The suit names TikTok and Beijing-based ByteDance as plaintiffs and was filed against Garland.
The foreign aid package passed by Congress last month included a provision that required ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok within a year. If the company fails to meet that one-year deadline, TikTok would lose access to app stores and web-hosting providers, effectively cutting it off to the roughly 170 million users in the U.S.
But TikTok said in its filing that while lawmakers portrayed the measure as a choice between divesture or a ban, “there is no question: the Act will force a shutdown of TikTok by January 19, 2025, silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate in ways that cannot be replicated elsewhere.”
The company said that the divestiture required by the law within a 270-day timeline, subject to a 90-day extension by the president, is “simply not possible,” and pointed to the Chinese government’s opposition to selling the technology that has made TikTok so wildly popular in the U.S. — its recommendation engine.
“For the first time in history, Congress has enacted a law that subjects a single, named speech platform to a permanent, nationwide ban, and bars every American from participating in a unique online community with more than 1 billion people worldwide,” TikTok wrote in its filing.
TikTok came under scrutiny by Congress amid concerns about the app’s ties to China. U.S. officials have warned that the video-sharing platform is a threat to national security, in part because they say the Chinese government can use it to spy on Americans or weaponize the app to manipulate content and influence the public.
FBI Director Christopher Wray told the House Intelligence Committee in March that the Chinese government could use TikTok’s software to gain access to Americans’ phones. Lawmakers in both chambers of Congress and across partisan lines have also expressed alarm about the app after participating in classified briefings.
Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said in a statement that Congress and the executive branch concluded that TikTok “poses a grave risk to national security and the American people.”
“It is telling that TikTok would rather spend its time, money, and effort fighting in court than solving the problem by breaking up with the CCP,” he said.
TikTok’s legal effort was not unexpected, as the company had pledged to challenge the law’s constitutionality in court. The company has pointed to an initiative called “Project Texas,” launched in 2022, to demonstrate its efforts to safeguard U.S. user data and the integrity of its platform from foreign government influence. TikTok also said it was involved in a draft agreement through negotiations with an obscure federal agency, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, that included a “shut-down option” allowing the app to be suspended in the U.S. if it failed to meet certain obligations.
The platform accused Congress in its petition of overlooking its investments “in favor of the politically expedient and punitive approach of targeting for disfavor one publisher and speaker (TikTok Inc.), one speech forum (TikTok), and that forum’s ultimate owner (ByteDance Ltd.)”
Concerns about TikTok from policymakers have escalated in recent years, and more than 30 states and the federal government have banned the app on state-issued devices. Former President Donald Trump signed an executive order in 2020 that would’ve prohibited transactions with ByteDance, citing the data collection that “threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.” But his attempts to ban the app were blocked by federal judges.
But even amid those fears, several political figures have their own accounts, including Mr. Biden’s presidential campaign and members of Congress. TikTok pointed to the use of the app by supporters of the ban in its petition and said it “undermines the claim that the platform poses an actual threat to Americans.”
Caitlin Yilek and Kaia Hubbard contributed to this report.
Melissa Quinn is a politics reporter for CBSNews.com. She has written for outlets including the Washington Examiner, Daily Signal and Alexandria Times. Melissa covers U.S. politics, with a focus on the Supreme Court and federal courts.
President Biden signed a bill into law banning TikTok nationwide unless the Chinese company that owns it, ByteDance, sells its stake in the app within a year. What do you think?
“And with that, Chinese influence over our economy comes to an end.”
Rowena Marriott, Topiary Clipper
Uh Oh, You’ve Encountered The TikTok Bad Boys Gang
“But I haven’t finished radicalizing!”
Lochlan Robin, Tanning Bed Technician
“Now the youth will return to the true center of taste and style: Paris, France.”
Washington — A law that could lead to a national ban of TikTok cleared the Senate Tuesday night in a bipartisan vote of 79-18, representing one of the most serious threats to the immensely popular social media app’s U.S. operations.
Some lawmakers insist they don’t want to actually ban the platform used by roughly 170 million Americans, arguing the choice lies with TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance.
To keep TikTok up and running in the U.S., ByteDance must sell its stake in TikTok, and it has up to a year to do so, according to the legislation, which was signed into law on Wednesday by President Biden. But the Chinese government, which would have to sign off on any sale, opposes a forced sale. Without a divestiture, the company would lose access to app stores and web-hosting providers, effectively banning it in the U.S. The timeline could be prolonged by an expected legal battle.
“This is not an effort to take your voice away. … This is not a ban of a service you appreciate,” Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat and the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday in a floor speech, acknowledging that many Americans are skeptical of the legislation. “At the end of the day, they’ve not seen what Congress has seen.”
Why does Congress want to ban TikTok?
Lawmakers have suspicions about the video-sharing app’s ties to China and have tried to regulate it, though prior efforts to widely restrict it have been unsuccessful. U.S. officials have repeatedly warned that TikTok threatens national security because the Chinese government could use it to spy on Americans or weaponize it to covertly influence the U.S. public by amplifying or suppressing certain content.
The concern is warranted, U.S. officials say, because Chinese national security laws require organizations to cooperate with intelligence gathering. FBI Director Christopher Wray told House Intelligence Committee members in March that the Chinese government could compromise Americans’ devices through the software.
“This app is a spy balloon in Americans’ phones” that is “used to surveil and exploit Americans’ personal information,” Rep. Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Saturday before the lower chamber passed the bill as part of a broader foreign aid package.
In classified briefings, lawmakers have learned “how rivers of data are being collected and shared in ways that are not well-aligned with American security interests,” Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, said Tuesday.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said last month that the Chinese government has the ability to influence “a lot of young people” who use TikTok as their main news source.
“That’s a national security concern,” Rubio said.
Warner said Tuesday that the fact that Chinese diplomats are lobbying congressional staff against the legislation, which was first reported by Politico, shows “how dearly [Chinese President] Xi Jinping is invested in this product.”
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, a Republican from South Dakota, called the lobbying effort “a stunning confirmation of the value the Chinese government places on its ability to access Americans’ information and shape their TikTok experience.”
Arguments against banning TikTok
TikTok has denied that it’s beholden to the Chinese government and has accused lawmakers who want to restrict it of trampling on citizens’ free speech rights. TikTok has vowed to mount a legal challenge, calling the law “unconstitutional.”
“We’ll continue to fight, as this legislation is a clear violation of the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok and would have devastating consequences for the 7 million small businesses that use TikTok to reach new customers, sell their products, and create new jobs. This is the beginning, not the end of this long process,” TikTok executive Michael Beckerman said in an internal company memo obtained by CBS News that was sent to TikTok staff on Saturday.
In a video on Wednesday, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said “the facts and the Constitution are on our side and we expect to prevail again.” He said the company has invested billions of dollars to secure user data and “keep our platform free from outside manipulation.”
TikTok began an initiative known as “Project Texas” in 2022 to safeguard American users’ data on servers in the U.S. and ease lawmakers’ fears. But Warner argued Tuesday that the initiative was insufficient because it would still allow TikTok’s algorithm and source code to remain in China, making them “subject to Chinese government exploitation.”
Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts said Tuesday on the Senate floor that TikTok poses national security risks, but the legislation amounted to “censorship” because it could deny Americans access to a platform they rely on for news, business purposes, building a community and connecting with others.
“We should be very clear about the likely outcome of this law,” Markey said. “It’s really just a TikTok ban. And once we properly acknowledge that this bill is a TikTok ban, we can better see its impact on free expression.”
Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, wrote in a recent opinion piece that the law could be a gateway to the government forcing the sale of other companies.
“If the damage to one company weren’t enough, there is a very real danger this ham-fisted assault on TikTok may actually give the government the power to force the sale of other companies,” he wrote and predicted that the Supreme Court will ultimately rule the law is unconstitutional.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
The U.S. Senate passed the TikTok bill on Tuesday evening in a vote of 79-18. The bill, which bans TikTok unless Bytedance sells it to a U.S. owner, flew through Congress this week as part of a broader package to provide $90 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. President Joe Biden said in a statement following the Senate vote that he would sign the package as soon as Wednesday, clearing the last hurdle before the TikTok divest-or-ban bill becomes law.
Mourning the Loss of Addison Rae’s Debut Album | The Meme Machine
“We’ve learned in recent years that democracy is a fragile and precious thing,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on the Senate floor Tuesday. “It will not survive the threats of this century – the new threats – if we aren’t willing to do what it takes to defend it.”
TikTok is prepared to wage a legal battle against the U.S. government over the so-called ban, Bloomberg reported on Sunday. The social media company claims the so-called TikTok ban is “a clear violation” of the First Amendment rights of TikTok’s 170 million American users. A court case of this kind is unprecedented and could go up to the Supreme Court.
TikTok did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
The “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act,” also known as the TikTok bill, grants the White House new privileges to crack down on apps it determines to be a national security threat. The bill gives U.S. presidents the power to label apps as “foreign adversary-controlled applications” and force them to be sold to a U.S. owner within 270 days, though Biden can extend this to 360 days (a previous version only provided 180 days). If no sale occurs, the apps will be banned from app stores and blocked by internet service providers in the United States.
TikTok has long denied that it shares any data with the Chinese government. However, Senators received classified briefings on TikTok from national security officials in March, which reportedly revealed the app’s “shocking” spy capabilities. Senators told Axios that TikTok could be used to tap the microphone on users’ devices, and even determine what users are doing on other apps. That said, none of this evidence has been made public
A previous version of this bill swiftly passed through the House in March but stalled in the Senate for more than a month. By tying the TikTok bill to a crucial foreign aid package, lawmakers were able to nearly ensure it would be taken up by the Senate.
One concern tech lawyers have raised about the TikTok bill is that it could ban apps other than TikTok. The bill features vague definitions of what constitutes “foreign adversary-controlled applications,” and gives the president a near unchecked power to make such a categorization.
As President Biden seems poised to sign the TikTok bill into law, former President Donald Trump has flipped his stance on the social media app. Trump now supports TikTok’s existence, posting on Truth Social Monday that “Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok.” Trump was the first to attempt a TikTok ban in 2020 when he signed an executive order that was later rejected by a federal court.
Trump’s reversal, which seems contradictory, is likely to curry favor with younger voters. Despite the overwhelming support in Congress, a U.S. TikTok ban is not popular with voters. Just 38% of U.S. adults say they would support a TikTok ban, according to the Pew Research Center. If Biden signs the TikTok bill, he’ll appear strong against China, but could potentially lose important swing voters.
TikTok says this bill would “trample” free speech in America, an increasingly popular claim among social media apps. Elon Musk’s X and Trump’s Truth Social make similar First Amendment arguments for their app’s controversial content. Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is going in the other direction. Facebook, Threads, and Instagram how vowed not to prioritize news on their social media sites, making duller apps in exchange for less controversy.
TikTok has fought tooth and nail to avoid a U.S. ban under Bytedance’s ownership. The app sent push notifications to millions of American users asking them to call their local congress member. Lawmakers’ offices were flooded with phone calls later that day. TikTok and Bytedance also reportedly spent over $7 million lobbying in Congress this year to fight the potential ban. Those attempts were unsuccessful, so now TikTok is poised to take this battle to court.
TikTok users could soon find that the popular social media service is either under new ownership or, although it wouldn’t happen immediately, outright banned in the U.S.
On Saturday, the House passed legislation that would bar TikTok from operating in the U.S. if the popular platform’s China-based owner doesn’t sell its stake within a year. The bill will next head to the Senate, where it is expected to pass, buoyed by its attachment to a larger foreign aid package for Ukraine and Israel that has gained bipartisan support.
TikTok has attracted unwanted scrutiny not only for the addictiveness of its constantly scrolling videos, but also due to its Chinese owner, ByteDance. That has raised concerns among lawmakers and security experts that the Chinese government could tap TikTok’s trove of personal data about millions of U.S. users.
Meanwhile, TikTok has asked its users to contact their lawmakers to argue against the bill’s passage, an effort that appears to have failed to sway opinions in Washington, D.C., noted Eurasia Group director Clayton Allen.
TikTok has sent push alerts to users of the social media platform, urging them to contact their lawmakers about a congressional bill that would require its Chinese owner ByteDance to sell it or face a U.S. ban.
Aimee Picchi
As recently as last week, TikTok was sending push notifications to some of its users urging them to reach out to their lawmakers, saying that the bill could “take away YOUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to access TikTok.”
“It’s a low-cost exercise if you have access to the user base,” Allen told CBS MoneyWatch. “But it seems like it has backfired.”
Some lawmakers had argued that TikTok’s ability to send bulk push notifications to its users, many of them minors, underscored the risks of the app.
In a statement, TikTok said it is “unfortunate” that lawmakers are “using the cover of important foreign and humanitarian assistance to once again jam through a ban bill that would trample the free speech rights of 170 million Americans, devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.”
Here’s what to know about what could happen next to the TikTok bill.
When will the Senate vote on the TikTok bill?
The Senate is expected to take up the bill as early as Tuesday, although the vote could come on Wednesday, said CBS News congressional correspondent Scott MacFarlane.
The clock is ticking on a crucial 24 hours for TikTok, as a bill that could lead to the app being banned in the U.S. is now racing through Congress.@MacFarlaneNews has the latest as the Senate prepares to vote on the bill: pic.twitter.com/VdRT2knKY6
President Joe Biden has indicated he would sign the bill, which is primarily focused on providing foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel.
Why does Congress want to ban TikTok?
Actually, lawmakers want ByteDance to sell its stake in TikTok. Barring such a deal, the legislation would, in fact, ban the social media app in the U.S.
Lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the company’s ties in China, with fears that ByteDance or TikTok could share data about U.S. users with China’s authoritarian government.
“The idea that we would give the Communist Party this much of a propaganda tool, as well as the ability to scrape 170 million Americans’ personal data, it is a national security risk,” Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” on Sunday.
What is the timeline for a possible TikTok sale or shutdown?
If passed, the bill would give TikTok’s owner nine months to arrange a sale, with the potential for an additional three-month grace period, according to a copy of the bill released earlier this month.
But, Allen of Eurasia Group noted, that would put the nine-month mark in mid- to late January, which could also coincide with the U.S. presidential inauguration. If former President Donald Trump wins in November, he could very well take a different tack with TikTok, the analyst noted.
“This might become a question for the next administration,” Allen said. “Looking at the language of the bill, I’m not sure Trump would be as bound to pursue what the Biden administration would want. He could use it as a point of leverage with China.”
If TikTok is sold, who might buy it?
Likely bidders include Microsoft, Oracle or private equity groups, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives.
However, Ives thinks ByteDance would be unlikely to sell TikTok with its core algorithms, the vital software that provides video recommendations to users based on their interests and viewing habits.
“The value of TikTok would dramatically change without the algorithms and makes the ultimate sale/divestiture of TikTok a very complex endeavor, with many potential strategic/financial bidders waiting anxiously for this process to kick off,” Ives said in a research note.
Could other social media platforms benefit from the bill?
Rivals such as Meta could benefit from the bill if it becomes a law, Ives noted.
Wedbush estimates that roughly 60% of TikTok users would shift to Meta’s Instagram and Facebook if TikTok went dark in the U.S. Google would also benefit, he added.
Aimee Picchi is the associate managing editor for CBS MoneyWatch, where she covers business and personal finance. She previously worked at Bloomberg News and has written for national news outlets including USA Today and Consumer Reports.
The European Union (EU) into TikTok and has accused the platform of running afoul of the region’s Digital Services Act (DSA), . The probe involves the addictive nature of TikTok Lite, which is a smaller version of the app that takes up less memory on a smartphone and was built to perform over slower internet connections.
TikTok Lite launched earlier this month in France and Spain and includes a design aspect that allows users to earn points by watching and liking videos. These points can be exchanged for stuff like Amazon vouchers and TikTok’s proprietary digital currency, which is typically used to tip creators. The EU’s Commission has expressed concern that this type of “task and reward” design language could impact the mental health of young users by “stimulating addictive behavior.”
The Commission hasn’t yet confirmed any breaches of the DSA, but has suggested that it might impose temporary measures to force parent company ByteDance to suspend TikTok Lite in the EU while it continues the investigation. The company has until April 24 to argue against these potential measures, so the app’s still available for EU residents. However, ByteDance failed to provide the EU with a risk assessment document regarding TikTok Lite after being asked last week.
This failure to comply with the DSA could open the company up to steep penalties of up to one percent of its total annual income and periodic penalties of up to five percent of daily income. The Commission hasn’t indicated if it plans on issuing these fines as the investigation continues.
“We suspect TikTok Lite could be as toxic and addictive as” light cigarettes, Thierry Breton, the commissioner for the EU Internal Market, wrote in a press release announcing the probe. “We will spare no effort to protect our children.”
ByteDance has yet to respond to the investigation and the potential of TikTok Lite being banned in the EU. This latest inquiry follows a more comprehensive probe . That wide-ranging investigation focuses on addictive algorithms, age verification issues, default privacy settings and ad transparency.
February’s probe is ongoing, but ByteDance was already forced to make concessions to allow TikTok to operate in the EU. The company had to give users the choice to the For You Page and instituted new harmful content reporting options. It also suspended personalized ads for EU users aged 13 to 17.
As for America, the keeps inching closer to reality. The US House of Representatives tucked a revised version of the bill into this weekend’s foreign aid package. Under this new proposed legislation, ByteDance would have one year to sell off TikTok before it would be banned from app stores. It’s now heading to the Senate and will likely be voted on this week. However, it remains to be seen if the Senate will even keep the stuff about TikTok in the foreign aid package. President Biden has previously said if Congress passes it.
The US House of Representatives passed a bill on Saturday that could either see TikTok banned in the country or force its sale. A revised version of the bill, which previously passed the House in March but later stalled in Senate, was roped in with a foreign aid package this time around, likely meaning it will now be treated as a higher priority item. The bill originally gave TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, six months to sell the app if it’s passed into law or TikTok would be banned from US app stores. Under the revised version, ByteDance would have up to a year to divest.
The bill passed with a vote of 360-58 in the House, according to AP. It’ll now move on to the Senate, which could vote on it in just a matter of days. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said today that the Senate is working to reach an agreement on when the next vote will be for the foreign aid package that the TikTok bill is attached to, but it is expected to happen this coming Tuesday. President Joe Biden has previously said he would support the bill if Congress passes it.
The bill paints TikTok as a national security threat due to its ties to China. There are roughly 170 million US users on the app, at least according to TikTok, and ByteDance isn’t expected to let them go without a fight. In a statement posted on X earlier this week, the TikTok Policy account said such a law would “trample the free speech rights” of these users, “devastate 7 million businesses, and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the U.S. economy, annually.” Critics of the bill have also argued that banning TikTok would do little in the way of actually protecting Americans’ data.
FCC chairman Jessica Rosenworcel (center) said President Joe Biden should sign the TikTok ban if he gets the opportunity. (L-R) Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra, Representative Tony Cárdenas (DC-CA 29th District), Rosenworcel, Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC). Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Federal Communications Commission chairman Jessica Rosenworcel shared her clear stance on a potential TikTok ban during a luncheon at the Paley Center for Media on Tuesday (April 16), which was attended by media industry insiders from companies like Hearst, AARP and New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ communications team. In a Q&A session with Nick Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic, Rosenworcel said that if the House of Representatives passes the bill and makes it to President Joe Biden’s desk, “He should absolutely sign it.”
“For decades, we’ve had policies in the Communications Act that would prevent, for instance, a Chinese national or a Chinese company from owning our nation’s broadcast television stations,” Rosenworcel said. “And yet here we have something arguably among the newer forms of media, and there’s zero oversight. I think that’s stunning.”
Other FCC leaders have been vocal about restricting access to TikTok. In 2022, Rosenworcel’s colleague Brendan Carr wrote an open letter asking Google and Apple to ban TikTok from their app stores.
“TikTok is not just another video app,” Carr posted on X. “That’s the sheep’s clothing.”
TikTok is not just another video app. That’s the sheep’s clothing.
It harvests swaths of sensitive data that new reports show are being accessed in Beijing.
Millions of Americans are waiting to see if the U.S. government will follow through on banning the popular video-sharing app. The proposal is that TikTok must break away from its Chinese owner, BtyeDance, or become inaccessible in the United States. President Biden has already said that if a bill banning TikTok comes to him, he will sign it. This would also mean stopping the TikTok page his team created for Biden’s reelection campaign. At the moment, the bill appears to be stalled out in the House.
TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, has begun his own campaign to keep TikTok in the U.S. The executive rarely makes public appeals, but he took to the app in March, asking for American TikTok users to speak out against the potential ban.
“I encourage you to keep sharing your stories,” Chew said in the TikTok video. “Share them with your friends, share them with your family. Share them with your senators. Protect your constitutional rights.”
Rosenworcel feels that the FCC regulations for data privacy are the “gold standard” for traditional telecommunications. However, she acknowledged a clear gap between the rapid development of digital media and other emerging technologies, like A.I., and the federal government’s capabilities.
“I think that those protections are really solid. We have to figure out how to extend them to a digital age where so much is unprotected,” Rosenworcel said.
TikTok’s fate is not in the hands of the FCC, but policies around net neutrality, data privacy and internet connectivity fall under Rosenworcel’s leadership. She is currently advocating for the Commission to reinstate net neutrality rules that bring back a national standard for private internet providers, including prohibiting them from making customers pay extra money to access high-speed internet. Former chairman Ajit Pai repealed those protections. The vote to bring the rules back is on April 25.
Washington — Americans could lose access to TikTok within months if a bill that seeks to force its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance to sell its stake is signed into law. But the popular video-sharing app’s potentially swift demise depends on whether the bill can overcome a number of hurdles.
Lawmakers have long tried to regulate the platform because of its ties to China. They argue it threatens national security because the Chinese government could use TikTok to spy on Americans or weaponize it to covertly influence the U.S. public by amplifying or suppressing certain content.
TikTok has repeatedly stated that it would deny requests from the Chinese government for Americans’ data. It also points to “Project Texas,” an initiative that TikTok began in 2022 to safeguard American users’ data on servers in the U.S. and ease lawmakers’ fears.
The House overwhelmingly passed a measure Wednesday that gives ByteDance a choice: Sell TikTok within six months, or lose access to app stores and web-hosting services in the U.S.
It doesn’t appear that the Senate is in a hurry to send the bill to President Biden, who recently said he would sign it.
A number of senators have noted the upper chamber moves slower than its counterpart, which passed the measure just eight days after it was introduced.
“It’s hard for me to imagine that it’ll be real fast. We don’t do things fast. We’re designed not to do things fast, so I would think months,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, said Wednesday when asked about the timeline.
On Thursday, Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon said “lots of mistakes get made when you rush it without thinking through the implications.”
Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has been noncommittal about bringing it up for a vote. But the House’s bipartisan support for it and the White House’s request to move “quickly” puts pressure on the Senate to act.
Sen. Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, said Thursday that “we’ve started conversations” with Schumer. Warner, who chairs the Senate Intelligence Committee, endorsed the bill after its passage in the House. He said he’s also had a “preliminary conversation” with Senate Commerce Committee Chair Maria Cantwell, whose panel would likely have to approve a measure restricting TikTok.
Cantwell has not backed the bill and suggested it may not survive legal scrutiny.
“I will be talking to my Senate and House colleagues to try to find a path forward that is constitutional and protects civil liberties,” the Washington Democrat said in a statement Wednesday.
Critics say the bill violates the First Amendment rights of the 170 million Americans on TikTok by taking away a platform they use to express themselves, get information and communicate.
Some senators have said they want to make changes to the House bill. An amended version would then have to back through the lower chamber if it passes the Senate.
Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was doubtful it would get a floor vote.
What happens if the TikTok bill passes the Senate?
If the House bill becomes law, it would make it illegal to distribute apps developed by ByteDance, its subsidiaries and other firms “controlled by a foreign adversary,” unless the company offloads the app within 180 days.
A sale of TikTok faces its own challenges. The app is sure to have a multibillion-dollar price tag, which few companies or investors could afford. A deal with any tech giant that has the financial resources is likely to hit antitrust roadblocks. And, any sale would require China’s sign-off. The Chinese government has said it opposes a forced sale.
The six-month deadline to sell TikTok or be banned could also be extended amid a legal battle. TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew, who was on Capitol Hill on Thursday meeting with lawmakers, has indicated the company will challenge it.
“It is not feasible to do whatever the bill thinks it does, within the parameters set out in the bill,” the chief executive said. “This will lead to the banning of the app in the country.”
Prior efforts to widely restrict TikTok in the U.S. have not been successful. The most recent case stemmed from Montana passing an outright ban last year. A federal judge temporarily blocked the law from taking effect in January, saying it was unconstitutional.
Alan He and Cristina Corujo contributed reporting.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
As U.S. lawmakers move forward with legislation that could potentially ban TikTok, China is warning of repercussions. Elizabeth Palmer, CBS News senior foreign correspondent, and Chris Krebs, former director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, joins to unpack the larger national security threat TikTok could pose to the U.S.
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Washington — Legislation that could ban TikTok in the U.S. if Beijing-based ByteDance doesn’t sell its stake in the social media platform is moving quickly in the House, with lawmakers expected to hold a vote Wednesday morning.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, was confident the bill would pass.
TikTok has repeatedly been targeted by lawmakers seeking to restrict the app over concerns that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over the data of its 170 million American users. Lawmakers say the concern is warranted because Chinese national security laws require organizations to cooperate with intelligence gathering. TikTok has long denied it could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans.
The House fast-tracked the bill, known as the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, skipping the Rules Committee and bringing it up under a procedure that requires two-thirds support for passage, an indication that it has broad bipartisan support.
President Biden has vowed to sign the legislation, which would require ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or be banned from U.S. app stores and web-hosting services.
“Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data, whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through the recommendation algorithm,” FBI Director Christopher Wray told House Intelligence Committee members on Tuesday, adding that the Chinese government could compromise Americans’ devices through the software.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said last year it would “firmly oppose” the forced sale of TikTok. ByteDance did not return a request for comment.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington accused the U.S. of running a disinformation campaign “for the purpose of bringing down the company.”
The U.S. “has not been able to give hard evidence to prove the so-called threats from TikTok to U.S. national security,” Liu said in a statement, calling on the U.S. to “provide an open, fair, equal and non-discriminatory business environment to companies of all countries operating in the U.S.”
But it’s unclear whether its passage in the House would mark the beginning of the end for TikTok in the U.S. Efforts to widely ban it have stalled amid disagreements about how to regulate the platform, free speech concerns and legal challenges.
In recent days, TikTok wielded its massive user base against lawmakers, inundating them with calls from constituents worried that they could lose access to the widely popular platform. A recent Pew Research Center survey found declining support among U.S. adults for a TikTok ban, even among those who were aware of ByteDance’s connection to China.
Former President Donald Trump’s opposition to the bill could also sway some Republicans to drop their support for it, just as it helped sink a bipartisan immigration deal earlier this year. Trump reversed his support for a TikTok ban, arguing that doing so would benefit Facebook, though at the same time, he also called TikTok a national security risk. Trump signed an executive order in 2020 that would have effectively barred it from operating in the U.S., but it faced a legal challenge from the company and was ultimately rescinded by the Biden administration.
The House bill is likely to face obstacles in the Senate, where a bipartisan effort last year to restrict TikTok petered out. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has not yet committed to putting it on the floor and some senators are hesitant to focus on just one social media platform.
“I still have concerns about naming a specific company in legislation, but it feels like this House bill has momentum,” Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the Democratic chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Monday.
Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said he is “not sure that this is the answer.” Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, opposes the bill, calling it “inconsistent” with the First Amendment.
Rubio, however, said it was “a good sign” that the bill is quickly moving through the House.
On Thursday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously advanced it after officials from the Justice Department and FBI gave members a classified briefing on TikTok. House members received another briefing on Tuesday from national security officials.
The Justice Department advised lawmakers that the legislation would be on more stable legal ground if it gave the government the authority to force ByteDance to divest from TikTok, rather than to impose an outright ban on the app if ByteDance doesn’t sell, according to a memo obtained by CBS News. The White House has also suggested it may not yet withstand legal scrutiny.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Wisconsin Republican who introduced the bill, said Tuesday that he thinks the legislation could withstand a legal challenge because “there’s no authority to go after any American company, and there’s no authority to go after content.”
“This is regulating conduct, not content,” Rep. Chip Roy, a Texas Republican, said after Tuesday’s classified briefing in defense of the bill.
Rep. Robert Garcia, a California Democrat, said the briefing failed to convince him that TikTok is an immediate national security threat. Appearing alongside TikTok creators outside the Capitol on Tuesday, Garcia said a ban would harm the economy and take away a platform that minority communities have used to connect.
Other House Democrats who opposed the bill criticized the lower chamber for rushing the bill to a floor vote, saying it lacked the necessary hearings.
Garcia said they would pressure their Senate colleagues to “ensure the Senate does not rush on this.”
“I’m more hopeful in the Senate doing the right thing right now than us in the House,” he said.
Gallagher, who leads the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, said an overwhelming vote in favor would send a message to the Senate.
“I just want a big vote on Wednesday so that the Senate is forced to take it up,” he said.
Jaala Brown, Cristina Corujo, Alan He and Robert Legare contributed reporting.
Caitlin Yilek is a politics reporter at cbsnews.com and is based in Washington, D.C. She previously worked for the Washington Examiner and The Hill, and was a member of the 2022 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship with the National Press Foundation.
Next, an array of sharing options pop up. You can choose the email option to send the file to yourself as an attachment, or upload it to a cloud service like Google Drive. To directly download the file, swipe to the end of the Share To options and tap More. There will be even more options. Look for options that allow you to save the video locally.
On Android, the best option for saving it to your phone will be labeled Files by Google. Tap this icon to download the video to your phone, then use Android’s built-in Files app to browse your downloads. On iOS, look for the option Save to Files, then choose to save the video either in your device’s internal storage or in your iCloud drive.
Download TikTok Videos to Your Computer
The simplest option for collecting your work is to download the videos from TikTok’s website or desktop app. This process is very easy compared to the mobile option.
Go to your favorite video on TikTok.com and right-click on it. If you’re looking at your own video and you’re logged in to your account, or if the video’s creator has marked their posts as downloadable, there will be an option in the right-click menu that says Download Video.
Click that option.
Congrats, you’ve done it! The video will be saved as an MP4 in your downloads folder.
If you don’t see the option to download the video when you right-click, that probably means the video’s creator hasn’t shared the video publicly or has chosen to disallow downloads.
Use Screen Record
It’s not the tidiest option, but you can also record a copy of the video via screen record on your phone. Screen record basically takes a video screenshot; once turned on, it will record whatever is playing on your screen until you hit Stop. Play the TikTok clip while screen recording and you’ll have a quick-and-dirty copy saved to your device.
You’ll need to play the video all the way through in real time. Keep in mind that this will capture everything that happens on the screen while you’re recording, so if a notification pops up or you swipe to another app, that will all be in the video. It also means you’ll still see all the menu buttons and text that are normally around the edges of the screen in a TikTok video, so it won’t be a perfectly clean copy of the video. But it’s better than nothing.
You can record your screen on iOS and on Android phones with Android 11 or higher.
On iOS, go into Settings, then Control Center. Tap the green plus sign Add button next to the Screen Recording option. This will add a little gray-dot icon button to your homescreen. Tap that and Screen Recording will start.
On Android, swipe down from the top of your screen to bring up your notifications and settings screen. From there, you might have to expand the menu at top and swipe through your settings widgets. Look for Screen Record. Tap that and you’ll have options to record device audio and whether to show touches on the screen. Tap start to record.
What’s With the Watermark?
If you’ve downloaded your videos, you probably noticed the faint TikTok watermark in the frame. This watermark will appear in any videos you’ve published as well as in videos you download from other creators. Unfortunately, there’s no official way to download a video directly from the platform after it’s been posted without that watermark being applied. If a video is still in your drafts in the TikTok app—meaning you’ve shot and edited it but not posted it yet—you can select the Save Video option and download a version of it without the watermark.
In general, if you’re creating videos, your best bet is to use a separate video editing app to edit your video before posting it online. That way you’ll always have the original cut and not have to worry about whether your distribution platform—and all your hard work—is about to suddenly go poof.
Bobby Kotick, the former CEO of Activision Blizzard who stepped down at the end of last year, is apparently interested in buying TikTok as a new or force its sale. According to a report by , Kotick mentioned the idea of partnering on such a purchase to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and others seated with him at a conference dinner last week, and brought it up with ByteDance Executive Chair Zhang Yiming. If TikTok is sold, the WSJ notes, it would likely go for hundreds of billions of dollars.
Kotick led Activision for over 30 years but didn’t exactly leave on a good note. In , the company was accused of fostering sexual harassment and gender discrimination under his leadership, in what was described as a “pervasive frat boy workplace culture.” soon after reported that Kotick was aware of misconduct and assault allegations over the years and did not properly disclose some of these instances to the board. He was also accused of harassment himself, noted at the time. Activision Blizzard called the report “misleading.”
After the information came to light, and demanded Kotick resign, but that did not happen. Kotick ultimately stayed on as head of Activision Blizzard in 2023.
Kotick’s alleged interest in TikTok comes at a tumultuous moment for the immensely popular platform after lawmakers introduced the “Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act” last week, which he would sign, if it passes. Under the bill, which goes to the House floor on Wednesday for a vote, TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, within six months. Otherwise, it’ll be banned from US app stores.
TikTok has been trying to get its millions of US users to rally behind it in wake of the bill’s sudden momentum, and sent out push notifications last week . After the House vote, where it’s expected to be approved after clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee in a unanimous vote last week, the bill would move on to the Senate. While lawmakers’ concerns about TikTok center on fears of data privacy and its connection to China, WSJ notes that involving Altman in its purchase could open the app up to the possibility of being used by OpenAI to train its AI models, which doesn’t exactly sound ideal for users, either.
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Donald Trump appeared to come out in defense of TikTok, the social media platform facing a potential ban by Congress, in a post late Thursday on his social media platform Truth Social—the same platform that experienced a widespread outage as the former president attempted to live-tweet President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech.
Mourning the Loss of Addison Rae’s Debut Album | The Meme Machine
“If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business. I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better. They are a true Enemy of the People!” Trump wrote on Thursday night.
It’s unclear why Trump called Facebook an “enemy of the people,” a phrase that he usually saves for mainstream media outlets not named Fox News. And it doesn’t appear Trump has ever used the nickname “Zuckerschmuck” for Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg before, which, according to a simple Google search, looks like the name of a real online store centered around diabetes.
Trump’s opposition to a TikTok ban would be a reversal of policy for the former president, who signed an executive order in the summer of 2020 that would’ve forced TikTok’s parent company in China, ByteDance, to completely divest of the social media site or face a ban on U.S. soil.
Trump’s executive order, which was held up in federal court before being reversed when Biden took office in 2021, called TikTok’s existence a “national emergency” for the U.S. that could threaten the country’s security and economy.
“This mobile application may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the Chinese Communist Party, such as when TikTok videos spread debunked conspiracy theories about the origins of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus,” Trump’s executive order read in a line that’s particularly ironic, given Trump’s embrace of many such conspiracy theories.
The executive order also featured claims of censorship on TikTok by the Chinese Communist Party, especially around, “protests in Hong Kong and China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities.” Because who doesn’t love “Muslim minorities” more than Trump, right?
Why is Trump reversing course on TikTok? Who knows why Trump does anything? Maybe he’s making the calculation that it helps his own social media platform in some way. Or maybe it’s because Trump reportedly saw at least $5.5 million flowing to his businesses from Chinese sources while he was president. Could it have anything to do with the fact that Republican mega-donor Jeff Yass, a billionaire with a big investment in ByteDance, recently had a friendly phone call with Trump, according to Politico?
Better yet, maybe Trump wants to delay a ban until he hypothetically returns to the White House, a tactic he’s already deployed to sink a bipartisan immigration reform deal because he wants to campaign on the issue of a “broken border.” It really could be anything, as far as we know.
But Congress is moving ahead with a potential ban on TikTok, with a bipartisan bill expected to make its way to the House for a vote very soon. The bill already cleared a House committee in a unanimous vote of 50-0. Much like Trump’s original executive order, the bill would force ByteDance to sell the platform and, if the company refused, would allow Congress to ban the site altogether.
The bill has mobilized some of TikTok’s estimated 150 million American users, with Congressional offices reportedly getting flooded on Thursday by calls imploring members of Congress not to ban the app. TikTok even alerted users in the U.S. about the potential ban on Thursday, a move that made politicians quite angry.
President Biden has come out in support of the effort by Congress to get ByteDance to divest and the White House has claimed the president only killed Trump’s executive order to conduct its own security review while it was tied up in federal court. But it will be interesting to see if the courts agree that Congress has the right to ban TikTok, a move that the company says conflicts with the free speech rights of Americans.
“This legislation will trample the First Amendment rights of 170 million Americans and deprive 5 million small businesses of a platform they rely on to grow and create jobs,” a TikTok spokesperson told Gizmodo on Thursday.
The House vote hasn’t been scheduled yet, but it sure seems like we’re going to find out sooner rather than later if TikTok has a future in the U.S. Incredibly, Trump wants TikTok to be allowed to continue as usual. At least for now.
U.S. President Joe Biden arrives at John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York City, U.S., February 7, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign launched an official TikTok account Sunday evening. The account is noteworthy because TikTok is currently banned on most U.S. government-issued devices.
The TikTok account, with the handle “@bidenhq,” debuted Sunday during Lunar New Year celebrations in China and Super Bowl 58 in the U.S.
In late 2022, Biden signed legislation that barred most federal government-owned devices from using TikTok. The provision was part of a massive omnibus spending bill and, at the time, it represented a major win for China hawks in Congress.
Several states and New York City also followed suit, banning TikTok on government-owned devices last year, pointing to a wide range of security concerns.
TikTok’s parent company is China-based ByteDance. The company’s CEO Shou Zi Chew is Singaporean and a graduate of Harvard Business School.
One of TikTok’s biggest outside investors is Susquehanna International Group. Billionaire co-founder of the firm, Jeffrey Yass, has donated millions to lawmakers who want to block an outright ban of the app in the states.
Several U.S. lawmakers have accused TikTok, and other social media platforms, of spreading content online that has been harmful to children’s mental health and failing to protect kids online.
Biden campaign advisors told NBC News the TikTok account is part of an effort to meet voters where they are.
The app remains essential to younger people, including of those of voting age in the U.S. According to Pew Research data released in late 2023, about a third of 18-29 year olds in the U.S. said they regularly get news on TikTok, a higher share than ever before.
Tighter regulation of social media companies including TikTok, Meta, Snap, Discord and X (formerly Twitter) represented a rare issue of bipartisan agreement during a Senate hearing on child safety last month.
The Biden White House has carried on a love-hate relationship with TikTok since Biden took office. On one hand, the administration openly courted TikTok stars and content producers to help spread public service messages and engage young people with civic events.
But as China-skeptical lawmakers ratcheted up their campaign against the company in recent years, the Biden White House tacitly agreed with them, going so far as to reportedly pressure ByteDance to sell TikTok.
Shou Zi Chew, a 40-year-old entrepreneur, was born on January 1, 1983, in Singapore.
Raised in an affluent family alongside his brothers, he received his education at Hwa Chong Institution before serving as a commissioned officer in the Singapore Army.
Following his military service, Chew relocated to London to complete his undergraduate studies in economics at the University of London.
He further advanced his education by earning a Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School, where he also completed a summer internship at Facebook.
Key Takeaway
Net Worth around USD 1.5 billion as of 2024.
CEO of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, since May 2021.
Former Chief Financial Officer for Xiaomi Corporation.
Bachelor of Economics from the University College London.
Master of Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Married to Vivian Kao, a successful businesswoman and CEO at Tamarind Global.
41 years old (Born on January 1, 1983).
Net Worth 2024
In May 2021, Shou Zi Chew assumed the role of CEO at ByteDance, taking over from the company’s founder, Zhang Yiming.
Before his tenure at ByteDance, he served as the Chief Financial Officer for Xiaomi Corporation and had a stint as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs.
As we enter 2024, his estimated net worth stands at approximately $1.5 billion USD according to Hot New HipHop.
While Chew has amassed an impressive fortune, it is important to note that he is not the owner of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok. That title belongs to Zhang Yiming. As of 2023, Yiming’s net worth was estimated to be a staggering $43.4 billion, according to Forbes.
Professional Career
Shou began his professional journey after completing his education at the University of London, starting his career in the banking sector with Goldman Sachs, a leading American investment bank and financial services company based in London as noted by Straits Times.
Before this role, he had already acquired a diverse set of experiences across various fields.
After a two-year stint at Goldman Sachs, Shou transitioned to a venture capital firm named DST Global, where he led the team focused on ByteDance investments.
He then joined Xiaomi, a Chinese multinational company specializing in the design and manufacturing of electronics, initially serving as its Chief Financial Officer.
By 2019, Shou had risen to the position of President of Xiaomi’s international division. In 2021, ByteDance appointed him as Chief Financial Officer.
However, after a brief period, he left the CFO position to become the CEO of TikTok, succeeding the former American businessman Kevin A. Maye.
Before joining Xiaomi, Shou Zi Chew was employed at DST, an investment firm founded by Yuri Milner, an Israeli-Russian billionaire in the tech industry as reported by The New York Times.
During his five-year tenure there, he managed a team that was among the initial investors in ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
In March 2021, Shou became the first person to hold the position of Chief Financial Officer for the media conglomerate. Shortly after, in May 2021, he was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the company. This move garnered significant admiration for Shou Zi Chew.
Zhang Yiming, ByteDance’s founder and former CEO, praised Shou for his extensive understanding of the company and the broader technology sector.
He highlighted Shou’s leadership of a team that was one of ByteDance’s earliest investors and his decade-long experience in tech.
Kevin Mayer, Chew’s predecessor, left the role after just three months to join Walt Disney. It was reported that Mayer’s departure was influenced by pressure from American lawmakers concerned about the security implications of the app.
Career Milestones
From July 2006 to July 2008, worked at Goldman Sachs International.
Completed an internship at Facebook during its start-up phase.
Held the position of Director at Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited, a branch of Kingsoft Corporation Limited.
Became a partner at DST Investment Management Ltd in July 2015.
In 2019, took on the roles of Senior Vice President, Executive Director, and President of Global Business Groups at Xiaomi.
Wife and Family Life
Shou Zi Chew is married to Vivian Kao, a fellow Singaporean and successful businesswoman, with whom he shares two children. The couple maintains a low profile, opting for private settings on their Instagram and other social media accounts, reflecting their preference for privacy.
Their paths first crossed at Harvard University, where both were pursuing their MBAs. It was during this intense period of academic endeavor that they found love, even as they focused on achieving their educational goals.
Their initial connection was made via email in 2008, but it wasn’t until the following summer, when both were interning in California, that they truly got to know each other.
Vivian Kao holds the position of CEO at Tamarind Global, a company that specializes in financial services.
Tamarind Global is dedicated to managing the investment portfolio and philanthropic efforts of a prominent Singaporean family spanning the third and fourth generations.
The firm’s mission is centered on ensuring long-term capital preservation and growth, with a particular emphasis on investments.
The family, now including Shou Zi Chew, Vivian Kao, their two children, and the family dog, has settled in Beijing, China. Before making Beijing their home, they traveled extensively, visiting places like London, Singapore, and Hong Kong according to Harvard Business School Alumni.
Both are also recognized for their philanthropy, being active donors and members of the Harvard Business School Fund Investors Society.
Congressional Testimony and Controversy
In March 2023, he faced a significant challenge when he was called upon to address the U.S. Congress regarding TikTok’s ties to China and the potential implications for national security as stated by CNBC.
The Biden administration had taken a firm stance, proposing to ban TikTok unless its Chinese stakeholders divested their shares in the app.
This situation intensified the scrutiny on Chew, especially as the app was already banned on government devices in the U.S. and other nations, heightening suspicions about its operations.
Repeated Citizenship Queries
During a tense congressional testimony focused on online safety for children, Singaporean TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was persistently questioned by Sen. Tom Cotton about his citizenship and potential affiliations with the Chinese Communist Party according to Business Insider.
Despite Chew’s repeated clarifications of his Singaporean nationality, the line of questioning continued, touching on his past, present, and future citizenship, his family’s American citizenship, and his connections to the Chinese communist party.
This interrogation took place amidst a broader, combative hearing with CEOs from four other social media companies, including X, Meta, Snap, and Discord, all scrutinized for their platforms’ safety measures for children.
The intense focus on Chew and TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, reflects ongoing concerns over Chinese government influence and data misuse, amidst a backdrop of anti-Asian rhetoric that conflates Chinese ancestry with the actions of the Chinese Communist Party.
Philanthropy Initiatives
Shou Zi Chew, the successful CEO of TikTok, is not only focused on the growth of his company and followers but is also actively involved in philanthropy. Under his leadership, TikTok has contributed to numerous social causes, and Chew himself has also engaged in personal charitable activities.
One of TikTok’s notable initiatives is the Creativity for Good program, which encourages users to demonstrate their creativity in addressing societal issues. This program has led to numerous innovative ideas and campaigns designed to raise awareness and funds for various non-profit organizations.
Shou Zi Chew’s commitment to education is also evident in his support for underprivileged students. He has personally donated to several scholarship programs, providing financial assistance for bright students from low-income families to pursue their higher education. This effort underlines Chew’s dedication to narrowing the education gap and improving access to quality education for all.
FAQ
What is ByteDance’s business model and how does it contribute to TikTok’s success?
ByteDance operates on a content platform model that leverages advanced AI algorithms to personalize and recommend content to users. This model is central to TikTok’s success, driving user engagement and growth by delivering tailored video content that matches individual interests and behaviors.
How does TikTok address data privacy concerns, especially in Western markets?
As of 2024, TikTok has implemented several measures to address data privacy concerns, including establishing a transparency center, undergoing third-party audits, and storing US user data on servers located in the United States to mitigate risks related to data privacy and governmental concerns.
What measures has Shou Zi Chew taken to address regulatory challenges faced by TikTok?
Under Chew’s leadership, TikTok has taken proactive steps to address regulatory challenges, including enhancing data privacy measures, engaging in transparent dialogue with regulators, and restructuring operations to comply with local laws and guidelines in various markets.
How does Shou Zi Chew plan to expand TikTok’s user base and market reach?
Chew focuses on localizing content and features to cater to diverse global audiences, investing in technology to enhance user experience, and exploring new markets with untapped potential. He also seeks strategic partnerships to broaden TikTok’s ecosystem and reach.
How has His leadership style influenced TikTok’s corporate culture and innovation?
Shou Zi Chew’s leadership is characterized by a focus on innovation, inclusivity, and adaptability, fostering a corporate culture that encourages creativity, collaboration, and a forward-thinking approach to challenges and opportunities in the digital space.
What future technologies is TikTok investing in to enhance user experience and content creation?
TikTok is investing in advanced AI, augmented reality (AR), and machine learning technologies to enhance content personalization, improve user experience, and offer new creative tools for content creators, ensuring the platform remains at the forefront of digital innovation.
Final Words
Shou Zi Chew’s remarkable journey from a young student in Singapore to the CEO of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, is a testament to his visionary leadership, strategic acumen, and unwavering commitment to innovation.
His tenure at ByteDance has been marked by significant achievements, including navigating regulatory challenges, spearheading philanthropic initiatives, and driving TikTok’s global expansion.
Chew’s leadership has not only propelled TikTok to unprecedented success but has also positioned the platform as a pivotal player in the digital landscape, influencing content creation, social interaction, and digital marketing strategies across the globe.
Olivia Rodrigo’s music was pulled from TikTok today after the short-form video platform fell out with Universal Music Group. Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for Lionsgate
Today (Feb. 1), Universal Music Group (UMG), which houses megastars like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, officially removed its artists’ music from TikTok after its licensing agreement with the short-form video platform expired and the two companies failed to reach an agreement on artist royalties. TikTok users can no longer use UMG artists’ licensed songs in their videos.
UMG published an open letter to TikTok on Jan. 30 accusing the platform of underpaying its artists and allowing A.I.-generated songs that mimic the vocals of famous artists like Drake to thrive on the app. TikTok responded with a harsh statement alleging UMG has “put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.”
According to TikTok, 88 percent of its users believe that music is essential to the platform’s experience. In order to work better with the major music labels, who are oftentimes at odds with TikTok, the social platform created the TikTok Commercial Music Library to house licensed music from labels like UMG for creators to use in their videos. But UMG said TikTok only accounts for only 1 percent of the music conglomerate’s revenue “despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content.”
Some sounds are still available to hear, but not for use. On Ariana Grande’s TikTok account, for example, the official version of her new single “Yes, And” can still be played. But when you click on the sound, a message pops up saying the “copyright owner hasn’t made the sound available in your country.” Many other sounds have disappeared completely, as in this Taylor Swift video and this Ice Spice video.
It’s unclear how much the actual user experience will shift without UMG music. Many licensed songs by UMG artists that become popular on TikTok also include concert footage, live renditions and snippets of their songs that may not be pulled. Remixes of UMG artist’s songs made by regular TikTok users like this one posted by Olivia Rodrigo are also popular on the platform and are often beloved as much as the original versions.
Bytedance, the unlisted Chinese tech giant that owns TikTok, is poised to slash part of its games operations, including Nuverse, which publishes ‘Marvel Snap,’ according to financial news sources.
News was reported by Bloomberg, Reuters and other tech news providers The Information and The Verge on Monday that Bytedance will retreat from its mainstream video games operation with the loss of some 1,000 jobs.
“We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to centre on long-term strategic growth areas,” a ByteDance representative said in a statement sent to some media. “Following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business.” Variety has also reached out to Bytedance for comment.
Nuverse, the unit for most of Bytedance’s games, is understood to have told employees that it will halt nearly all games that have not yet launched. And two of its recently- launched titles – anime-style role-playing game “Crystal of Atlan” and survival game “Earth: Revival” – may be sold to other publishers. It plans to keep the smaller social games activities that can be played within Douyin, the Chinese twin of TikTok.
‘Marvel Snap’ is a digital collectible card game developed by Second Dinner and published by Nuverse.
Bloomberg also reported that Bytedance is considering selling Shanghai Moonton Technology, a games company it paid $4 billion for in 2021.
The moves would re-focus Bytedance on social video – Tiktok and Douyin – and e-commerce. It has also made moves into music streaming and AI this year.
Games have been increasingly heavily regulated within China over the past three years, with authorities increasingly stringent about protecting young users’ health. They have intervened by delaying new license approvals or permits allowing monetization and the introduction of requirements that platforms limit game-play by minors. The cycle of regulation may now have turned more favorable and permits are being green-lighted again, but analysts suggest that the games market is headed for slower growth than in recent times.
Bytedance is privately-held and is not required to publicly disclose its financial position. However, occasional disclosures to investors have been reported by financial media. These show that Bytedance is approaching Facebook owner Meta in term of revenue. The company was reported as having $85 billion of revenue in 2022, while revenue for the first half of 2023 was reported as $54 billion.
