WASHINGTON, Feb 1 — TikTok’s Singaporean CEO Chew Shou Zi was yesterday asked repeatedly about his ties with China, in his first appearance before US lawmakers since March last year.

Mr Chew was among the leaders of the biggest social media companies grilled by US senators — the latest effort by lawmakers to address the concerns of parents and mental health experts that social media companies put profits over guardrails that would ensure their platforms do not harm children.

Mr Chew testified along with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, X CEO Linda Yaccarino, Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and Discord CEO Jason Citron.

‘I’m Singaporean’

US Senator Tom Cotton on Wednesday repeatedly asked Mr Chew about his ties with China.

“As you often say, that you live in Singapore. Of what nation are you a citizen?” he asked Mr Chew who responded with “Singapore”.

Mr Cotton then asked if the TikTok CEO ever applied for Chinese citizenship.

“Senator, I served my nation in Singapore. No, I did not,” he said.

Mr Chew was further asked if he had ever belonged to the Chinese Communist Party, to which he replied: “Senator, I’m Singaporean. No.”

Mr Cotton then asked Mr Chew if he had “ever been associated or affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party”, to which Mr Chew again responded “no”, adding that he is Singaporean.

‘Blood on their hands’

US senators on Wednesday said Congress must quickly pass legislation, as one lawmaker accused the companies of having “blood on their hands” for failing to protect children from escalating threats of sexual predation on their platforms.

“As a father of three young children myself I know that the issues that we’re discussing today are horrific and the nightmare of every parent,” Mr Chew said.

He added that TikTok would spend more than US$2 billion (S$2.7 billion) on trust and safety efforts, but declined to say how the figure compared to the company’s overall revenue.

“This year alone, we have 40,000 safety professionals working on this topic,” he said.

Mr Chew disclosed on Wednesday that more than 170 million Americans used TikTok monthly, 20 million more than the company said last year.

The Chinese-owned short video app company faced harsh questions in March last year, including some suggesting the app was damaging children’s mental health and that user data could be passed on to China’s government. — Reuters