On Thursday, U.S. lawmakers grilled TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew over the Chinese-owned app’s outsized influence on teens and its capability to serve harmful content that inflicts “emotional distress” on young users.
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The hearing was held at a crucial moment for TikTok, as the Biden administration faces pressure from lawmakers to ban the app in the country for national security concerns.
Impact of TikTok’s content algorithm on teens
Rep. Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, said content on TikTok “exacerbated feelings of emotional stress” in children. Specifically, representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers, a Republican from Washington, voiced concern over the app’s content algorithm which she said promotes self-harm and eating disorder content, and encourages “dangerous” challenges that can put kids’ lives at risk.
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Additionally, during the hearing, Rep. Bob Latta, a Republican from Ohio, spoke of a 10-year-old girl who suffocated herself doing a so-called “blackout challenge” from videos posted on the app.
Details of safety measures implemented by the app
Chew testified that while the “vast majority” of TikTok users are over the age of 18, the company has invested in measures to protect young people who use the app. This includes more parental control tools like the feature which would let parents to block their teens from seeing videos that contain certain words or hashtags.
Lawmakers also quizzed Chew about whether Americans’ user data could be accessed by the Chinese government as well as how it prevented harmful content from reaching young users.
At the end of the hearing, Chew once again assured that content such as dangerous challenges were prohibited from TikTok. However, the alarm raised over the app’s influence on teens is still being taken seriously by the Biden administration and lawmakers. Time will tell if any further actions are taken to regulate the app.