Lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew on Thursday in a high-stakes hearing on the future of the popular, Chinese-owned video sharing platform in the U.S.
“While TikTok videos provide a new, fun way for people to express their creativity and enjoy the videos of others, the platform also threatens the health, privacy, and security of the American people,” said Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J. 6th District) during the hearing.
With Congress weighing a bill to fully ban TikTok, Chew made the case that the company is committed to addressing lawmakers' concerns about privacy, user safety, and data security.
“Trust is about actions we take. We will firewall protect the U.S. data from unwanted foreign access," Chew said. "TikTok will remain a place for free expression and will not be manipulated by any government."
He also stressed that protecting younger users from harmful content would be a top priority and that TikTok would allow third-party monitors to scrutinize its operations.
In addition, Chew touted an effort called Project Texas, which aims to move all data collected from U.S. citizens to within the country.
These appeals mostly fell on deaf ears, with representatives from both sides of the aisle insisting that TikTok is working closely with the Chinese government.
"I still believe that the Beijing communist government will still control and have the ability to influence what you do," said Pallone in reference to Project Texas.
Chew responded to these accusations by repeatedly noting that TikTok is an independent company. “TikTok is not available in mainland China, and today we’re currently headquartered in Los Angeles and Singapore," he said.
Overall, the hearing was short on partisan bickering, as neither Democrats or Republicans had much positive to say about the platform.
“Welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress,” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga. 1st District).
Updated with the latest information from the hearing.
Joe Cecela, Dream Exchange CEO, explains how they are aiming to form the first minority-controlled company to operate an exchange in U.S. history. Watch!
A Michigan judge is putting sponges in the hands of shoplifters and ordering them to wash cars in a Walmart parking lot when spring weather arrives. Genesee County Judge Jeffrey Clothier hopes the unusual form of community service discourages people from stealing from Walmart. The judge also wants to reward shoppers with free car washes. Clothier says he began ordering “Walmart wash” sentences this week for shoplifting at the store in Grand Blanc Township. He believes 75 to 100 people eventually will be ordered to wash cars this spring. Clothier says he will be washing cars alongside them when the time comes.
The State Department had been in talks with Elon Musk’s Tesla company to buy armored electric vehicles, but the plans have been put on hold by the Trump administration after reports emerged about a potential $400 million purchase. A State Department spokesperson said the electric car company owned by Musk was the only one that expressed interest back in May 2024. The deal with Tesla was only in its planning phases but it was forecast to be the largest contract of the year. It shows how some of his wealth has come and was still expected to come from taxpayers.
At 100 years old, the Goodyear Blimp is an ageless star in the sky. The 246-foot-long airship will be in the background of the Daytona 500 — flying roughly 1,500 feet above Daytona International Speedway, actually — to celebrate its greatest anniversary tour. Even though remote camera technologies are improving regularly and changing the landscape of aerial footage, the blimp continues to carve out a niche. At Daytona, with the usual 40-car field racing around a 2½-mile superspeedway, views from the blimp aptly provide the scope of the event.
You'll just have to wait for interest rates (and prices) to go down. Plus, this deal's a steel, the big carmaker wedding is off, and bribery is back, baby!
It’s a chicken-and-egg problem: Restaurants are struggling with record-high U.S. egg prices, but their omelets, scrambles and huevos rancheros may be part of the problem. Breakfast is booming at U.S. eateries. First Watch, a restaurant chain that serves breakfast, brunch and lunch, nearly quadrupled its locations over the past decade to 570. Fast-food chains like Starbucks and Wendy's added more egg-filled breakfast items. In normal times, egg producers could meet the demand. But a bird flu outbreak that has forced them to slaughter their flocks is making supplies scarcer and pushing up prices. Some restaurants like Waffle House have added a surcharge to offset their costs.
