In a remarkable display of bipartisanship, Congress went to war with the social media app TikTok last week. The House Energy and Commerce Committee grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew about its independence—or lack thereof—from the Chinese Communist Party.
The five-hour-long hearing was contentious. Chew did his best to dodge loaded questions about alleged spying on U.S. users by TikTok and its China-based parent company ByteDance. The questioning also delved into Chinese persecution of Uyghurs and whether the Chinese Communist Party could weaponize its access to massive amounts of data generated by the 150 million Americans who use TikTok.