House Democrats Interrogate TikTok as Montana Moves Toward Complete Ban

WASHINGTON, April 13, 2023 — Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., on Thursday requested additional information about TikTok’s privacy and safety practices, claiming that TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew left many Democrats’ questions unanswered during his recent appearance before Congress.

The March 23 hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which Pallone serves as the ranking member, marked the TikTok executive’s first Congressional testimony — and a pivotal moment in the growing bipartisan push for the app to be nationally banned.

In a letter addressed to Chew, Pallone wrote that the hearing “reinforced Americans’ fears that social media platforms, including TikTok, have been collecting, using, sharing, and selling their data without meaningful limits… These industry-wide concerns are heightened when it comes to TikTok given your China-based parent company and its susceptibility to the Chinese Communist Party’s influence.”

The letter included a list of thirty questions, mostly regarding TikTok’s data collection practices, underage user protections and content moderation policies — particularly in regard to Spanish language disinformation. Pallone also asked for more information about Project Texas, TikTok’s $1.5 billion U.S. data security initiative.

Many lawmakers used the hearing as an opportunity to air their grievances with TikTok, often leaving Chew little time to speak. Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., consistently denied Chew’s requests to answer questions or respond to allegations.

“Shou came prepared to answer questions from Congress, but, unfortunately, the day was dominated by political grandstanding,” TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter said in a statement after the hearing.

Montana nears complete TikTok ban, sparking practical and ideological opposition

While Congress considers legislation that would grant the Commerce Department broad authority to restrict tech platforms that threaten national security, some state lawmakers are targeting TikTok more directly.

The Montana State House on Thursday held a second hearing on legislation that would ban TikTok from operating in the state, advancing it to a final vote. The bill has already passed the State Senate.

The proposed legislation would target both TikTok and any app stores carrying it by instituting a $10,000 penalty per violation — defined as “each time that a user accesses TikTok, is offered the ability to access TikTok or is offered the ability to download TikTok.”

Tech companies and industry groups have raised pragmatic concerns about the bill’s implementation. At a March hearing, a representative from trade group TechNet claimed that it would be impossible for app stores to restrict TikTok on a state-by-state basis.

AT&T lobbyists successfully pushed for the removal of language that would have extended liability for facilitating TikTok access to internet service providers. But otherwise, attempts at weakening the bill — including extensive efforts from TikTok itself — have failed.

On Tuesday, a coalition of free speech and civil rights organizations urged Montana lawmakers to oppose the bill, arguing that it constituted “censorship” and a violation of the First Amendment.

“The government cannot impose a total ban on a communications platform like TikTok unless it is necessary to prevent extremely serious, immediate harm to national security,” the coalition wrote. “But there’s no public evidence of harm that would meet the high bar set by the U.S. and Montana Constitutions, and a total ban would not be the only option for addressing such harm if it did exist.”