TikTok CEO says US data protection from Chinese surveillance is ‘solvable problem’

NEW YORK – TikTok chief executive Shou Zi Chew has said he is confident his social media app will reach a resolution with US authorities that will allow it to continue operating in the United States.

The US government’s national security concerns

– around the Chinese government accessing US data – are a “solvable problem”, he said on stage at the New York Times Dealbook conference in New York on Wednesday.

ByteDance’s TikTok has been working with the Committee for Foreign Investment in the US, or Cfius, to come up with a process that involves a partnership with Oracle to protect data.

“We have very rigorous data access protocols,” Mr Chew said.

Another concern from American authorities centres

around the safety of children on TikTok.

Mr Chew said the app works to ensure users under 13 are not on the application.

The interviewer, New York Times writer Andrew Ross Sorkin, noted that many kids lie about their age to get access.

“We take minor safety extremely seriously,” said Mr Chew.

Speaking at the same forum, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg raised the issue of TikTok’s ownership by a Chinese company.

He said there are “real questions” about Beijing’s influence on TikTok.

“In a lot of countries, all data goes to the government,” he said. BLOOMBERG