TikTok CEO claims the social media giant is free from 'manipulation' by Communist Beijing after House vote - as Biden administration urges Senate to act quickly to force app to split from Chinese owners

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew issued a response - in the form of a TikTok clip - after the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass legislature that could ban the platform in the United States.

The House voted Wednesday, 352-65, with representatives on both sides of the aisle banding together to pass the bill. It now heads to the Senate, where it faces an uncertain future.

Politicians have long voiced their concern about TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing and suspected to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

President Joe Biden has committed to signing the bill, which would force ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or be banned from app stores and web-hosting services. 

Chew, 41, released a video on the official TikTok account on X, formerly Twitter, Wednesday evening. The CEO introduced himself by his first name before launching into his prepared remarks. 

'Just wanted to share some thoughts with our US users about the disappointing vote in the House of Representatives,' he said. 'There has been a lot of misinformation and I hope to clarify some things.'

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew released a video response Wednesday following a U.S. House of Representatives vote on a bill that would ban the platform in the United States

Politicians have repeatedly raised concerns about TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, which is headquartered in Beijing and suspected to have ties to the Chinese Communist Party

TikTok has repeatedly denied sharing U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and insists that it will not do so even if asked

He thanked the platform's 1.7 billion-strong community for 'making (their) voices heard.' As of March 2023, at least 150 million users were based in the United States, though that number is estimated at around 170 million now.

'Over the last few years, we have invested to keep your data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation. We have committed to that and continue to do so,' Chew continued.

Whistleblowers within the company, most notably former ByteDance employee Yintao Yu, have previously sounded the alarm on lax data privacy.

Yu, who served as the head of engineering for ByteDance's U.S. operations between August 2017 and November 2018, sued the company in May 2023.

In the complaint he claimed a group of CCP members nicknamed 'The Committee' were installed at offices in Beijing and able to view all data collected by the company, including data from the United States.

In 2022, TikTok announced Project Texas, an unprecedented initiative to store all U.S. user data on servers within the country.

By June of that year, the platform reported that all U.S. user traffic was being rerouted to cloud infrastructure in the United States.

TikTok also announced that it would also delete 'historic protected user data' in data centers in both Virginia and Singapore.

President Joe Biden has vowed to sign the bill once it reaches his desk, forcing ByteDance to sell TikTok within six months or be banned in the country

In Wednesday's video message, Chew said he hoped to clear up 'misinformation'

Lawmakers and intelligence officials have been vocal about their concern that Chinese authorities could compel ByteDance to hand over Americans' user data.

Stoking their fears are a set of Chinese national security laws that force organizations to comply with intelligence gathering.

TikTok has repeatedly denied sharing U.S. user data with Chinese authorities and insists that it will not do so even if asked.

Appealing to House Intelligence Committee members Tuesday, FBI Director Christopher Wray deemed the CCP 'the defining threat of our generation.'

'Americans need to ask themselves whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control access to their data, whether they want to give the Chinese government the ability to control the information they get through the recommendation algorithm,' he said.

Last year, researchers from the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University assessed a 'strong possibility' that TikTok promotes and demotes certain topics based on the preferences of the Chinese government.

The researchers suspected the algorithm was manipulating discourse not only on topics specific to China, but also on strategically important topics such as the wars in Ukraine and Israel.

The focus of Wednesday's vote, dubbed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, is not the first attempt to ban the app in the United States.

Former President Donald Trump attempted to ban the video-sharing platform through an executive order in 2020. This effort faltered after TikTok sued and was ultimately blocked by the courts.

The 41-year-old said TikTok was committed to keeping user data 'safe' and the platform 'from outside manipulation'

The CEO urged the platform's 170 million U.S. users to 'continue sharing your voice,' including with their senators

'This legislation, if signed into law, will lead to a ban of TikTok in the United States,' Chew said in Wednesday's message. 'Even the bill's sponsors admit that's their goal.'

He added the bill 'gives more power to a handful of other social media companies,' though did not mention them by name.

'It will also take billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses,' Chew continued. 'It will put more than 300,000 American jobs at risk and it will take away your TikTok.'

Addressing the users themselves, he continued: 'We will not stop advocating for you and we will continue to do all we can, including exercising our legal rights, to protect this amazing platform we have built with you.'

He ended the video by urging users to continue sharing their voice with those around them, including their senators.

Chew and executives of other technology firms like Meta and Snap testified before U.S. lawmakers last month on the topic of online child safety.

During the hearing, Chew was grilled about his nationality and possible connections to the CCP by Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas.

 'You said today, as you often say, that you live in Singapore. Of what nation are you a citizen?' Cotton asked.

Chew repeatedly affirmed that he was Singaporean, even referring to his mandatory two years' service in the country's military.

When Cotton went as far as to ask Chew whether he was a member of the CCP, the CEO responded: 'Senator, I’m Singaporean. No.'

Advocates and content creators gathered at the Capitol ahead of Wednesday's vote

If the bill were to pass the Senate and be signed into law, TikTok would lose a substantial portion of its advertising market.

A 2022 study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found the app generated $2 billion in ad revenue from users aged 13-17 in the United States alone.

While the bill faced overwhelming support during Wednesday's vote, critics were quick to voice their opposition.

Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar, a Democrat, denounced the legislature as 'bad policy' in a tweet.

'We should create actual standards & regulations around privacy violations across social media companies—not target platforms we don’t like,' she wrote.

Advocates and content creators flocked to the Capitol ahead of the vote. Some held signs reading 'TikTok changed my life for the better.'

TikTok itself also issued a statement opposing the vote.

'This process was secret, and the bill was jammed through for one reason: It’s a ban,' spokesman Alex Haurek said in a statement.

'We are hopeful that the Senate will consider the facts, listen to their constituents, and realize the impact on the economy, seven million small businesses and the 170 million Americans who use our service.'