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The head of TikTok will testify before the congress regarding the security of the application

The head of TikTok will testify before the congress regarding the security of

TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew will appear before Congress in March to raise questions about the viral video app's security measures amid growing efforts to ban it over privacy concerns. Chew will appear at a March 23 hearing of the Energy and Commerce Committee for the first time testifying before Congress, the committee said Monday.

Lawmakers will question him on TikTok's consumer privacy and data security practices, the platform's effect on children and the app's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party, committee chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers announced in a statement. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance, has come under increased scrutiny after media reports indicated possible security breaches. Last month, President Joe Biden signed legislation banning TikTok from government devices. Some lawmakers are supporting legislation to ban the app from the US entirely. In her statement, she said:

"Big Tech" has increasingly become a destructive force in American society. ByteDance-owned TikTok has knowingly allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access US user data. Americans deserve to know how these actions affect their privacy and data security, and what actions TikTok is taking to keep our children safe online.

The ban endorsed by Biden, which was included in the bill, included limited exemptions for law enforcement and national security research purposes. It does not apply to members of Congress and their staff, although members of the chamber have been barred from downloading the app to government-issued cellphones. TikTok criticized the ban in a statement, arguing that the ban was a political gesture that will do nothing to advance national security interests.

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