Testimony Before the U.S.

House Committee on Energy and Commerce

Written Statement of Testimony
Testimony of Shou Chew
Chief Executive Officer, TikTok Inc.
March 23, 2023

Chair Rodgers, Ranking Member Pallone, and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today to talk about TikTok and our mission
to inspire creativity and bring joy to more than 1 billion people worldwide. I look forward to
discussing what makes TikTok so special to the diverse audiences it serves, as well as our efforts
to promote minor safety, data privacy, and platform security. I also welcome the chance to
update you about our efforts to develop cutting-edge, multi-pronged initiatives to address
national security concerns.
My name is Shou Chew, and I am the Chief Executive Officer of TikTok. I am responsible for
all of TikTok’s business operations and our strategic direction worldwide. A third-generation
Singaporean, I am a graduate of University College of London and Harvard Business School. I
am a veteran of the Singapore Armed Forces, a husband, and a father, and I currently reside in
Singapore with my wife and two children.
Long before I became CEO, I was a content creator, and I have seen firsthand the transformative
capability of short-form video. I am passionate about TikTok’s ability to brighten people’s lives,
introduce them to new ideas and interests, and help businesses connect to their audiences.
On TikTok, we aim to provide three things. The first is a window to discover. This window, the
For You feed, opens to a stream of videos curated to your interests, making it easy to find
content and creators you love. The second is a canvas to create. Whether it’s demonstrating a
new science experiment or the latest cooking trend, people around the world use TikTok to
unleash creativity. The third is a bridge to connect. Through TikTok, people have discovered
new communities, cultures, and interests. As an example, BookTok, with more than 100 billion
views, has connected readers across the globe and changed the way people consume literature.
Although some people may still think of TikTok as a dancing app for teenagers, the reality is that
our platform and our community have become so much more for so many.
TikTok has empowered millions of Americans to express their voices in their own authentic way
and has provided a global stage for their creativity in a way that cannot be replicated on any
other platform or in any other medium. More than 150 million people in the United States use
TikTok on a monthly basis, with the average user today being an adult well past college age.
Their videos provide a lens through which the rest of the world can experience American culture.
Examples include TikTok’s role in bringing exposure to American musicians, artists, chefs, and
many more. While users in the United States represent 10 percent of our global community, their
voice accounts for 25 percent of the total views around the world.
In addition to being a destination to express creativity, we pride ourselves on being a platform
that helps companies—many of them small businesses—thrive. These are businesses like
Country Lather Soap Works in Perkinston, Mississippi. Country Lather Soap Works is a no-frills
producer of handcrafted soaps and bath products located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Founder
Jessie Whittington had been making soap as a hobby for years before sharing her passion on
TikTok while furloughed from her job as a bus driver. In a short time, sales exploded and she
was shipping her products across the country, allowing her to quit her 9-to-5 and realize her
dream of running her own small business.
TikTok enabled many small businesses to weather the darkest days of the pandemic, and a recent
study found that an overwhelming majority of small businesses view TikTok as both fun and
easy to use. TikTok’s Small Business Resource Center helps people leverage the power and
creativity of TikTok to grow their brands and better connect with their audience. If you talk to
the millions of people and businesses who are on TikTok, I believe you’ll hear incredibly
powerful stories of discovery, creation, and connection that contribute to people’s livelihoods
and well-being.
Although I could talk all day about how TikTok enriches people’s lives, I am also here to address
concerns that have been raised by some members of this Committee. I know that trust is
something that is earned through action, not words, and I welcome the opportunity to discuss not
only our commitments, but also tangible evidence from TikTok’s efforts to become a leader in
safety and security.
Having met with a number of members of the Committee in recent weeks, the concerns that I
have heard fall primarily into four categories: minor safety, data privacy and security, real-world
harms from online activities, and the risk of foreign content manipulation. I would like to address
each of these in turn. After that, I will compare some myths about TikTok to reality, including
with regard to perceived foreign influence. First, however, I want to take a moment to highlight
TikTok’s commitment to an open and transparent relationship with Congress generally and this
Committee specifically.
There are more than 150 million Americans who love our platform, and we know we have a
responsibility to protect them, which is why I’m making the following commitments to you and
our users:
1) We will keep safety—particularly for teenagers—a top priority for us;
2) We will firewall protected U.S. user data from unauthorized foreign access;
3) Tiktok will remain a platform for free expression and will not be manipulated by
any government;
4) We will be transparent and give access to third-party independent monitors, to
remain accountable for our commitments.
TikTok’s Commitment to Transparency
Although this is my first time testifying before Congress, TikTok has long considered Congress
an important stakeholder, and we have engaged actively with this Committee and others. TikTok
routinely and voluntarily provides documents, briefings, and testimony to congressional
committees.
For instance, over the past several months, TikTok has provided four briefings to the bipartisan
staffs of this Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability on issues
including data access and security. We also separately briefed this Committee in January on our
efforts related to minor safety. Through these briefings, TikTok has answered questions about
our robust policies and the improvements that we have made and will continue to make to even
further strengthen our capabilities.
Because we value Congress’s important oversight role, we regularly provide documents and
information well beyond our legal obligations. We look forward to continuing to engage in a
transparent and productive dialogue with this Committee and others.
TikTok’s engagement with Congress is emblematic of our broader approach to transparency.
Every quarter, we release a Community Guidelines Enforcement Report. These reports contain
detailed information about the type and volume of content we remove. Twice a year, we also
disclose data about requests we receive from law enforcement or governments.
Additionally, we are developing platform research and content moderation Application
Programming Interfaces (APIs) as part of our commitment to bringing transparency to how our
platform operates. As of last month, we have launched a research API that allows U.S.-based
academic researchers to more easily analyze public content posted to the platform.
We provide detailed information about our content moderation process and recommendation
system in our Transparency and Accountability Center. After offering virtual tours during the
pandemic, we recently opened the doors to the first physical Transparency and Accountability
Center in Los Angeles. Another center is planned for Washington, D.C. We would be happy to
arrange a virtual or in-person tour for Members and Committee staff at your convenience.

Minor Safety

Safety and wellness—in particular for teens—is a core priority for TikTok. And as a father of
two, these issues are personal for me. Today’s youth are growing up in a digital media world,
and TikTok is eager to be part of the conversation about creating more robust protections.
TikTok supports creating additional protections, including potential updates to the Children’s
Online Privacy Protection Act, to address the modern online ecosystem. We would similarly
welcome a conversation around legislation to enshrine better industry standards for age
verification. We are committed to working constructively and collaboratively with the
Committee on this important legislation.

In addition to forward-thinking legislation, good product design is also central to minor safety.
To help teens safely manage their experience, TikTok provides them with age-appropriate
settings and controls. The settings TikTok has developed reflect careful consideration of not only
the differences between people under 13 and teenagers, but also within the 13-17 teenage group.

As an initial matter, TikTok offers a separate experience in the United States for people under
13. In the United States, people under 13 are directed to a separate, curated viewing experience,
with stringent safeguards and privacy protections designed specifically for them. In this
experience, younger users can view on their devices fun, creative, and educational videos that are
vetted by a third-party expert, Common Sense Networks. However, they cannot post videos on
the platform, comment on others’ videos, message with others, or maintain a profile or followers.
No advertisements are shown in the under-13 experience.

TikTok also has taken numerous steps to help ensure that teens under 18 have a safe and
enjoyable experience on the app. Many of these measures impose restrictions not shared by other
platforms. We launch great products with a safety-by-design mentality, even if those features
limit our monetization opportunities.

For example, accounts registered to teens under 16 are set to private by default. They are also
prevented from sending direct messages, and their content is ineligible for recommendation into
the For You feed. These measures go far beyond what any of our peers do. We also prevent teens
from receiving late-night push notifications and give parents and guardians the ability to create
further restrictions on these notifications.

Additionally, only accounts registered to people 18 or older can host a livestream on the
platform. All livestream hosts in the United States are required to have a minimum of 1,000
followers on TikTok. To participate in monetization programs such as gifts, they must also be at
least 18 years old. In addition to an industry standard age gate, TikTok also uses both technology
(e.g., text-based models like Natural Language Processing) and human moderation to help
determine whether a user may be under 18 years old. If a user is suspected of being under 18, the
livestream is sent for human moderation. People on TikTok can also report potentially underage
users. If a moderator concludes the host appears to be under 18 years old, the livestream is
stopped immediately and the user is suspended.

Earlier this month, we announced that every account belonging to a person under age 18 will be
set by default to a 60-minute daily screen time limit. We consulted experts from the Digital
Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital in choosing this limit. If the 60-minute limit is
reached, teens will be prompted to enter a passcode in order to continue watching, requiring
them to make an active decision to extend that time. In our under-13 experience, the daily screen
time limit will also be set to 60 minutes, and a parent or guardian will need to set or enter a
passcode to enable 30 minutes of additional watch time.

TikTok’s Minor Safety team holds a high bar of rigor for developing policy. TikTok is staffed
with experts from the fields of adolescent development, prevention science, and child protection.
TikTok works with leading youth safety and well-being experts, as well as adolescent
psychologists, to inform our approach, including the Family Online Safety Institute, Common
Sense Networks, the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, ConnectSafely, and the
Cyberbullying Research Center, as well as our own U.S. Content Advisory Council. TikTok is
also active with the Technology Coalition, an organization that works to protect children from
online sexual exploitation and abuse, and serves on its board of directors and as chair of its
transparency committee.

TikTok rigorously screens content for indications of potential predatory or abusive behavior.
TikTok’s moderation system uses models to identify content, including videos, captions, and
comments, that violates our Youth Safety and Wellbeing Policy. Each and every video uploaded
to TikTok goes through automated moderation, and potentially violative content is automatically
removed or escalated for human review by one of our expert moderators who have undergone
specialized training to detect the signs of grooming or predatory behavior.

In addition to our own technology, TikTok has integrated with Hash Sharing Web Services from
the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to enable the detection and
removal of known violative content at the point of upload to TikTok. In 2021, we made 154,618
reports to NCMEC and were alone among major platforms in not receiving any takedown
requests from NCMEC. Put differently, TikTok’s swift actions resulted in the removal of abusive
content before NCMEC received reports of it from other sources.

TikTok also recognizes that parents and caregivers are critical partners in ensuring the safety of
teens. Parents and guardians cannot do it alone, and neither can we. TikTok is continuously
looking for ways to involve parents and guardians in their teens’ experience on the platform. To
that end, in 2020, TikTok unveiled Family Pairing.

Family Pairing allows a parent or guardian to link their account (from the parent or guardian’s
device) with their teenager’s account and enable privacy and safety controls. Parents and
guardians can also set screen time limits and decide whether their teens can search for content,
accounts, hashtags, or sounds. These features empower parents and guardians to customize their
teens’ privacy and safety settings, which TikTok continues to improve in consultation with youth
and family safety experts.

Although we have accomplished a lot, we are always working vigilantly to stay ahead of the
curve. As a result, we will never consider our work done, and we will never stop looking for
ways to improve. I’m sure I will learn of new areas where we can improve today. I am both
proud that TikTok has been a leader on these issues and encouraged to see that other platforms
have adopted some of the protections that we have pioneered.

Data Privacy

Protecting the privacy of the people who use our platform is critical to our mission. To that end,
we fully endorse congressional efforts to adopt comprehensive federal privacy legislation. This
Committee, led by Chair Rodgers and Ranking Member Pallone, has been at the forefront of
these issues, and we look forward to working with this Committee to help enact baseline privacy
legislation that establishes consistent and strong privacy standards.

Privacy is built into TikTok by design so that our community can confidently discover, create,
and enjoy entertaining content. People on TikTok have access to a wide range of privacy
settings, including choosing whether their account is private or public; selecting to whom we
may suggest their account; setting limits on who can interact with their videos, including with
features like Stitch and Duet, or who can comment on their videos; and picking who can tag and
mention them in a post, from “Everyone” to “No One.”

We collect a limited amount of information when people set up an account, such as date of birth
and username. Depending on how the individual signs up, we may also collect a phone number
or email address. Unlike some other platforms, we do not require people on TikTok to provide us
with their real names during registration, nor do we ask them about their employment or
relationship status. Current versions of the app do not collect precise or approximate GPS
information from U.S. users.

Another important part of being a responsible steward of user data is owning up to our mistakes
and making changes to address them. That’s why we promptly took action, including a company-
wide disclosure, when we learned late last year that certain (now former) employees had
accessed TikTok user data in an unsuccessful and misguided attempt to trace the source of a leak
of confidential TikTok information. We also notified this Committee about these ill-advised
actions within moments of informing our employees. I condemn this misconduct in the strongest
possible terms.

I understand that we have provided the Committee with a briefing on this subject and have
committed to ongoing cooperation. In particular, to demonstrate that we have zero tolerance for
the former employees’ misconduct, we have provided the Committee with a full accounting of
factual findings and remediation efforts through the outside law firm that is conducting the
investigation into the matter. These remediation efforts include restructuring the department
involved in the misconduct, creating a new Oversight Council, and strengthening policies and
operational controls relating to U.S. user data access.

Keeping TikTok Safe for All

As CEO, I consider the safety of the platform to be paramount. More than 40,000 people
globally work exclusively on trust and safety issues for TikTok. This includes in-house and
contract moderators, as well as teams focused on safety policy, product, and operations. TikTok
invests heavily in these teams, as well as in technology to detect potential violations and
suspicious accounts at scale. For instance, in 2021, TikTok spent approximately $1 billion on
trust and safety. Trust and safety represents our largest labor expense for TikTok’s U.S.
operations.

We are very cognizant of the fact that online conduct can have real-world consequences. We
strive to provide a safe environment for the TikTok community and to remove content that
violates our policies, including those that prohibit bullying, hateful behavior, promotion of
disordered eating, and violent extremism. Through our quarterly Community Guidelines
Enforcement Reports, we regularly update the public on how we are measuring up to this ideal.
For instance, in the third quarter of 2022, we proactively removed 96.5 percent of violative
content before receiving any reports from users or others. In 92.7 percent of cases, the removal
occurred within 24 hours of when the content was posted.
People come to TikTok to feel inspired, be creative, and watch uplifting content. It is not the
platform of choice for individuals seeking to engage in harmful conduct. However, we also
realize that threats to online platform safety are far from static. Content moderation, which is a
core element of platform safety, is an exceptionally complicated, dynamic, and constantly
evolving process. TikTok’s content moderation successes—and challenges—reflect common
industry experiences for digital and short-form video platforms. TikTok constantly works to
improve, adjust, and make more consistent the development and implementation of content
moderation policies. Among other initiatives, TikTok’s U.S. Content Advisory Council, which
brings together outside experts, helps advise on how to respond to emerging challenges.

Our Advertising Policies also reflect our commitment to platform safety. We value being an
environment where creative, joyful content can flourish, and we have made decisions that
prioritize safety over short-term commercial success. For example, we do not allow paid political
ads on the platform, even though they could be a source of significant revenue. Nor do we accept
advertisements for categories of content that may hurt our efforts to support the safety of our
community, such as advertisements associated with violence or threats, including guns, weapons,
and tactical gear.

Other categories not permitted in the U.S. market under our Advertising Policies include
promotion of: alcohol, invasive cosmetic procedures, and multi-level marketing recruitment,
among many additional subjects. Our Community Guidelines apply with full force to all
advertisements on the platform, such that any content that would not be permitted if uploaded by
a user would not be allowed as a paid advertisement.

Data Security

I want to take this opportunity to address the work, of which I am incredibly proud, that TikTok
is doing to become the most trusted and secure digital platform. But I know that simply
describing our efforts is not enough. Congress and the American people understandably want
proof that we are living up to our ideals. So I will also address the numerous layers of oversight
that TikTok has voluntarily embraced.

Trust must be earned through action, not words. Building trust is above all an engineering and
governance effort, not a public relations exercise. We will go above and beyond, so our
community and regulators can see and verify our actions. And we hope you will give us that
chance.

The centerpiece of our work is called Project Texas. Project Texas is an unprecedented initiative
dedicated to safeguarding both U.S. user data and U.S. national security interests. This initiative
addresses key issues of corporate governance, content recommendation and moderation, data
security, and system access. It is a comprehensive package of measures with layers of
independent oversight to protect against backdoors into TikTok that could be used to manipulate
the platform or access U.S. user protected data.

Project Texas puts the concepts of transparency and accountability into action by addressing
national security concerns head-on with concrete, measurable solutions. Project Texas is
designed to introduce layers of transparency and vetting that are commonly used for defense
contractors but are unheard of for consumer platforms.

Given that this is a fluid and dynamic process, I want to take some time to address what we’ve
done already and what we’re working on.
First, we have already taken substantial steps to make Project Texas a reality, including spending
roughly $1.5 billion to date on implementation. We have formed a special-purpose subsidiary,
TikTok U.S. Data Security Inc. (USDS), that currently has nearly 1,500 full-time employees. We
expect that number to grow significantly over the coming year. USDS includes the functions that
oversee protected U.S. user data and the underlying TikTok U.S. platform.

To ensure that the data of all Americans is stored in America and hosted by an American
headquartered company, we have contracted with Oracle, an industry leader in cloud-based
services, to store TikTok’s U.S. user data. Currently, 100 percent of U.S. user traffic is being
routed to Oracle and USDS-controlled infrastructure in the United States. USDS is running our
recommendation system for U.S. users, which determines what appears in the For You feed, in
the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Moreover, Oracle has already begun inspecting TikTok’s source
code and will have unprecedented access to the related algorithms and data models. No other
social media company, or entertainment platform like TikTok, provides this level of access and
transparency. As of January 18, 2023, TikTok’s access to systems containing new protected data
are exclusively controlled by USDS.

Next, I want to address what we’re working on now. I know that there has been a lot of
speculation about Project Texas recently based on media coverage. While conversations with the
government are ongoing, our work on Project Texas has continued unabated. We are working
hard every day to reach new milestones. For example, earlier this month, we began the process
of deleting historical protected U.S. user data stored in non-Oracle servers; we expect this
process to be completed later this year. When that process is complete, all protected U.S. data
will be under the protection of U.S. law and under the control of the U.S.-led security team.
Under this structure, there is no way for the Chinese government to access it or compel access to
it.

In addition, as of January 2023, all access to systems containing new protected U.S. user data has
been exclusively controlled by USDS, and all access to the new protected data is limited to
approved USDS employees. There are some limited exceptions where non-USDS employees
may be granted access to protected data, for example, for legal and compliance, but such access
must be expressly authorized by USDS pursuant to a robust data access protocol. Furthermore,
no employees of Beijing Douyin Information Service Co., Ltd. have access to any databases that
contain any protected U.S. user data.

We also have a vision for where we can go in the future. For instance, there would be clear
eligibility criteria for new USDS personnel. Data access would also be subject to information
security controls that would be approved by both a U.S. government-approved third-party
monitor and a third-party auditor. And USDS employees would report into an independent
USDS board of directors who would be approved by and owe a fiduciary duty to the federal
government.
We are eager to hear feedback and to address any concerns. We continue to believe that
imposing state-of-the-art access and security controls is the best path forward, not only for
TikTok, but for the industry as a whole, and we remain committed to continued consultation and
to finding innovative answers to what we firmly believe are solvable concerns.
I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that
our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party. There
have even been calls to ban us or require divestment.
I steadfastly believe that all concerns that have been raised have solutions. Bans are only
appropriate when there are no alternatives. But we do have an alternative—one that we believe
addresses the concerns we’ve heard from this Committee and others. We do not believe that a
ban that hurts American small businesses, damages the country’s economy, silences the voices of
over 150 million Americans, and reduces competition in an increasingly concentrated market is
the solution to a solvable problem.
Likewise, divestment doesn’t address the fundamental concerns that I have heard, as a change in
ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access. This is not an issue of
nationality. All global companies face common challenges that need to be addressed through
safeguards and transparency. I am proud that TikTok is taking the lead in this area, and I
welcome the chance to continue having conversations with the U.S. government to make this
model even better.
To be clear, our commitment under Project Texas is for the data of all Americans to be stored in
America, hosted by an American headquartered company, with access to the data controlled by
USDS personnel. We offer this framework so that we can continue to accomplish what we value
most: being a platform for free expression beloved by more than 1 billion people, including over
150 million Americans.
Myths Versus Reality
Finally, I’d like to address some misconceptions about TikTok.
First, I understand that there are concerns stemming from the inaccurate belief that TikTok’s
corporate structure makes it beholden to the Chinese government or that it shares information
about U.S. users with the Chinese government. This is emphatically untrue.
TikTok is led by an executive team in the United States and Singapore and has global offices,
including in Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Nashville, New York, Washington, D.C., Dublin,
London, Paris, Berlin, Dubai, Singapore, Jakarta, Seoul, and Tokyo. Our headquarters are in Los
Angeles and Singapore. TikTok is not available in mainland China. As CEO, I am responsible
for all business operations and strategic decisions for TikTok.
TikTok, as a U.S. company incorporated in the United States, is subject to the laws of the United
States. TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, U.S. user data with the Chinese
government. Nor would TikTok honor such a request if one were ever made. Indeed, a 2021
report from Citizen Lab, an internationally renowned security research laboratory, found that
there was no overt data transmission by TikTok to the Chinese government and that TikTok did
not contact any servers within China.
TikTok publishes information about all requests we receive from law enforcement in our
semiannual Information Requests Report. This includes information about the countries from
which the requests originate. As reflected in this data, no requests have come from China.
TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs, but has evolved
into a global enterprise since its founding. ByteDance is a privately-held global company, with
roughly 60 percent owned by global institutional investors (such as Blackrock, General Atlantic,
and Sequoia), approximately 20 percent owned by the company’s founders, and approximately
20 percent owned by its employees—including thousands of Americans. It is not owned or
controlled by any government or state entity. ByteDance’s board is comprised of CEO Rubo
Liang, Bill Ford of General Atlantic, Arthur Dantchik of Susquehanna International Group,
Philippe Laffont of Coatue, and Neil Shen of Sequoia China.
Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country.
However, for the reasons discussed above, you don’t simply have to take my word on that.
Rather, our approach has been to work transparently and cooperatively with the U.S. government
and Oracle to design robust solutions to address concerns about TikTok’s heritage.
Second, there are misconceptions about the type of data that TikTok collects. For instance, there
have been a number of press stories alleging that TikTok “tracks” people. This is not accurate.
As noted above, current versions of the app do not collect precise or approximate GPS
information from U.S. users.
These are just a couple examples of some common misconceptions. I look forward to addressing
these inaccuracies and others during my testimony.
Conclusion
TikTok is a vibrant marketplace for a diverse group of more than 1 billion creators. As we fulfill
our mission to inspire creativity and bring joy, we remain resolute in our commitment to safety
and security, and we look forward to earning the trust of this Committee and the American
public. We also look forward to partnering with the Committee on developing clear, consistent
rules for the entire industry.
When it comes to protecting our community, we know there’s no finish line. The industry as a
whole faces dynamic and ever-evolving challenges. We will always work to deploy our teams,
tools, and resources to meet them and to demonstrate our hard work and transparency.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear today and to answer questions on these important issues.