Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

5 questions posed to the TikTok CEO by US lawmakers that left us scratching our heads
Dawn ^ | 28 March 2023

Posted on 03/28/2023 1:13:31 PM PDT by Cronos

The questions posed by the boomers who dominated the committee have been shared widely across the internet, clearly showing how the lawmakers were out of their depth trying to put the chief executive of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms on the spot.

Some of the questions seemed to be the brainchild of WhatsApp University’s course on absurd conspiracy theories

Here, we look at five of the most ludicrous questions.

1. Mr Chew, does TikTok access the home wifi network? A visibly confused Chew responded that he did not understand the question posed by representative Richard Hudson.

When the question was repeated, Chew, after a long pause, said that it does [access the wifi] like many other apps in the industry.

2. What is your salary? In a bid to prove the relationship between the Chinese Communist Party, ByteDance and TikTok, several personal questions were asked of the CEO. Besides his salary, he was also asked if he owns shares in ByteDance or Douyin. Chew refused to answer all questions, and rightfully so. Being a representative of a company does not mean that an individual is compelled to disclose their personal assets.

3. Why do you need to know where the eyes are if you’re not seeing if they’re dilated? One of the representatives asked if the application uses the phone’s camera to determine a pupil’s dilation.

Chew responded that the eyes are only detected when a user uses a filter and that is required only because the eye position needs to be detected for the filter to apply.

He also added that the app does not collect data, which is stored locally and deleted. The politician responded: “I find that hard to believe”.

Perhaps, the congressman’s children can now explain to him what a filter is and how they are part of all social media apps around the world.

4. Are you a Chinese company? This question, even though it was addressed by Chew in his opening speech when he said that the company was headquartered in Singapore and Los Angeles, was asked five more times in different ways.

Despite his answer remaining the same every time, the committee’s members seemed unable to accept the fact.

5. That would include you, Mr Chew? And finally, when talking about a Chinese law which mandates citizens to help intelligence agencies and maintain secrecy, Representative Dan Crenshaw asked Chew a hypothetical question.

“If you’re ever called by by the Chinese government, would you give them TikTok data?”

“I’m a Singaporean,” Chew responded.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: ccp; china; clownarticle; internet; restrictact; socialmedia; tiktok
Mr Chew, does TikTok access the home wifi network?
1 posted on 03/28/2023 1:13:31 PM PDT by Cronos
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Maybe the better question would be does it access the network without the user launching the app.


2 posted on 03/28/2023 1:19:19 PM PDT by Dutch Boy (The only thing worse than having something taken from you is to have it returned broken. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dutch Boy

If you’re phone is on the network all your apps are on the network. And since phone apps don’t fully turn off then yes. Exact same answer for you map app, calculator, and email.


3 posted on 03/28/2023 1:22:25 PM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Sounds they were doing retina scans for a bio ID


4 posted on 03/28/2023 1:28:13 PM PDT by Robe (A nation can survive its fools and even n the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: discostu

The real question is whether they use the wifi network to only go directly to the internet, or do they capture other programs’ traffic or even other devices’ traffic?


5 posted on 03/28/2023 1:33:01 PM PDT by KarlInOhio (Gain of Pfunction. Gain of Pfunding. Gain of Pfizer. Now in control of Project Pferitas.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Robe
Sounds they were doing retina scans for a bio ID

Your eyes will dilate if you see pictures of bewbs or pizza or classic cars/bikes. This data is collected and stored about you. You will then get more ads featuring boobs and pizza - often resting on cars/bikes as a consequence.

6 posted on 03/28/2023 1:35:33 PM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: KarlInOhio

“The real question is whether they use the wifi network to only go directly to the internet, or do they capture other programs’ traffic or even other devices’ traffic?”

If they can capture other apps data then that is a flaw in the operating system. Android and iOS should not allow apps to access other apps data.


7 posted on 03/28/2023 1:48:26 PM PDT by JSM_Liberty
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

ByteDance is China.


8 posted on 03/28/2023 1:50:32 PM PDT by AppyPappy (Biden told Al Roker "America is back". Unfortunately, he meant back to the 1970's)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Mr Chew, does TikTok access the home wifi network?

Oh yes. Love it! They have him cornered NOW!


9 posted on 03/28/2023 2:05:04 PM PDT by Zack Attack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Robe
Sounds they were doing retina scans for a bio ID

Let them get a retinal scan of the brown eye.

10 posted on 03/28/2023 2:06:06 PM PDT by BlackbirdSST (Trump or Bust!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

5. That would include you, Mr Chew? And finally, when talking about a Chinese law which mandates citizens to help intelligence agencies and maintain secrecy, Representative Dan Crenshaw asked Chew a hypothetical question.

“If you’re ever called by by the Chinese government, would you give them TikTok data?”

“I’m a Singaporean,” Chew responded.


Singapore is of course part of China. So he’s a patriotic, loyal Chinese. In other words he’s a Party member.

6. [unasked question] As a Singaporean, having been born in Singapore, do you still have relatives in that mainland Chinese city?


11 posted on 03/28/2023 2:10:59 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: AppyPappy

ByteDance is China.


China is Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping is Emperor of China.


12 posted on 03/28/2023 2:12:13 PM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: KarlInOhio

That’s really all about how you setup your wifi. You can create an account that can go nowhere but the internet, log your phone in with that and all is well. If you don’t, well there you. In that regard it’s no different than anything else on you network. Any laptop, computer, smartTV, alarm system or anything all have the same capabilities.


13 posted on 03/28/2023 2:22:16 PM PDT by discostu (like a dog being shown a card trick)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: BlackbirdSST

Too funny !!!!!


14 posted on 03/28/2023 3:28:20 PM PDT by Robe (A nation can survive its fools and even n the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

TikTok aka a placebo for the selfie nation


15 posted on 03/28/2023 4:08:51 PM PDT by antidemoncrat
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PIF

Singapore is of course part of China. So he’s a patriotic, loyal Chinese. In other words he’s a Party member.

That is the most illogical thing posted on Free Republic in the last year.

Singapore (/ˈsɪŋ(ɡ)əpɔːr/ (listen)), officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude (137 kilometres or 85 miles) north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the Strait of Malacca to the west, the Singapore Strait to the south, the South China Sea to the east, and the Straits of Johor to the north.

Singapore is 1,300 miles from the Chinese border as the crow flies. It in no way has anything to do with the country of China.


16 posted on 03/28/2023 8:48:44 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Cronos

Mr Chew, does TikTok access the home wifi network?


That one was poorly stated, but some of the other questions noted were fine, and the issue of data not being stored locally (on the device, temporarily) appears to have been what caused a lot of the initial suspicion.


17 posted on 03/28/2023 8:56:18 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Dutch Boy

And does it explore the network aside from communicating out?


18 posted on 03/28/2023 8:57:05 PM PDT by lepton ("It is useless to attempt to reason a man out of a thing he was never reasoned into"--Jonathan Swift)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson