TikTok CEO Shou Chew Appears On TikTok To Warn Users About The TikTok Ban

Shou Chew, the TikTok CEO, posted a video on TikTok with the intention of reaching all US TikTok users to inform them of a possible ban of TikTok and to do some actions that will prevent the ban. So, stay here to find more about the possible ban of TikTok in the USA.

TikTok as Trending Video Streaming App in the USA

TikTok has become the most popular video streaming service in quite a short period. It’s founded by Chinese company ByteDance in 2016. People post various videos on TikTok, while some even use TikTok to promote their business. Recently, there are many rumors about banning TikTok in the USA. 

According to Shou Chew, he says that there are 150 million TikTok users in the USA, of which 5 million users are small and medium businesses that promote their work on TikTok. These numbers are really fascinating. Moreover, 7000 Americans are TikTok employees. Keeping these numbers in mind, it’s not surprising that Shou Chew reached US TikTok users.

What was Shou Chew message to US TikTok users

In order to avoid any misinterpretations, we’ll quote his words. He said ‘’Let me know what you want your elected representatives to know about what you love about TikTok.’’ His appeal doesn’t mean boycotting politicians, but to let politicians know what Americans in general think about TikTok, and that they, as the elected representatives, should listen to those who elected them.

Let’s hope that the representatives will listen to the voices of their people, because they should take their desires into consideration. Shou Chew is appearing before Congress tomorrow, on the 23rd March to defend the app. We can just keep our fingers crossed that the Congress will not ban TikTok.

Why do politicians want to ban TikTok in the USA

Pixabay

It all goes back to 2020 when Trump said that he would prohibit ByteDance transactions, stating that TikTok threatens national security and brings potential risks to the state’s economy. Donald Trump justified his concerns by stating that this app as well as the company owning TikTok is controlled by the Chinese government.

Joe Biden has the same concerns, telling ByteDance to sell the company or to spin it off from China. This might be the only way not to ban TikTok because there are sayings that the Chinese government uses TikTok user's data to spy on journalists, and misusing other user’s data. 

Another question here arises is that other similar US IT companies haven’t been marked as suspicious nor how they deal with privacy policy. However, being accused of ‘’stealing’’ private data of Americans, Shou Chew will have to testify that TikTok is a safe and trustworthy app, and that Americans don’t have to worry about any data leaking. 

Which Actions Has ByteDance Taken To Prevent TikTok Ban

Along with Shou Chew’s appeal to TikTok users, ByteDance company has begun to change its community guidelines, making them more clear and precise. Those new rules deal with AI-generated  and ‘’synthetic media’’.

In other words, they updated the rules on what users can post on TikTok, precisely that when posting AI-generated content, as well as synthetic media, must be done with a statement or a sticker that’s unreal. This means that you have to label such content as AI-generated, synthetic, unreal, or similar.

TikTok vs American politicians

It’s quite clear that Shou Chew has a quite challenging task - to justify TikTok before American politicians. We’re aware that their concern is reasonable. However, ByteDance won’t surrender itself easily. The company is already working on improving the privacy policy by adding the part of AI-generated and synthetic media.

Let’s hope that the company won’t be late with such improvements, and that Congress won’t ban TikTok all over the USA. We can’t forget that there are about 150 million Americans using TikTok on a daily basis. Banning TikTok will definitely be a shock to those people.

Advertisement