TikTok CEO to highlight efforts to protect user data in testimony to Congress [Video]

Washington — TikTok’s chief executive plans to tell a House committee Thursday that the social media giant is taking “real action” to address national security concerns from U.S. policymakers and stave off a potential ban in the U.S., according to his prepared testimony.

CEO Shou Zi Chew is likely to face intense questioning when he testifies before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce on Thursday morning, with efforts to ban the widely popular social media app gaining momentum in Washington. The hearing will focus on TikTok’s “consumer privacy and data security practices, how the platform affects children, and its relationship with the Chinese Communist Party,” or CCP, according to the committee.

U.S. officials and national security experts have warned that TikTok, which has 150 million American users, could be used to spy on Americans or as a propaganda tool by the Chinese government. Advocates for banning the app in the U.S. say that TikTok’s China-based parent …