For the first time, the CEO of TikTok will be heard by the US Congress on March 23, to testify about the consequences of the application on children and the platform's relationship with the Chinese Communist Party.
"Americans have the right to know what impact these actions have on their private lives," said Cathy McMorris Rodgers, the head of a powerful House of Representatives committee on Monday, who initiated the hearing.
The CEO of the Chinese social network, Shou Zi Chew, had already been received in Brussels at the beginning of January to discuss with several senior European officials.
Much criticized in the United States by Democrats and Republicans, TikTok begins a year under high tension after the passage of a law banning the popular video-sharing platform on the devices of civil servants.
The increased weight in Congress of Republicans, who now hold the majority in the House, risks further complicating the situation for the platform.
Accused of being a spy tool
The elected conservatives indeed accuse TikTok, property of the Chinese giant ByteDance, of being a tool of espionage or propaganda in the service of Beijing.
The application "deliberately allowed the Chinese Communist Party to access American user data", denounced the elected Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
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To have a chance of continuing to be authorized on all American smartphones, TikTok USA may have to separate from its parent company ByteDance.
