TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have become the focus of a geopolitical trade and technology dispute between Beijing and Washington, as the company tries to prevent further regulatory restrictions. 

Shou Zi Chew, the social media app's CEO, faced four and a half hours of what TikTok described as "grandstanding" questioning from both Democrat and Republican lawmakers. The Congressmen questioned TikTok's links to the Chinese administration and the effects that the short-video platform could have on children's well-being. 

“Mr Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security,” committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers said in her opening statement. “TikTok has repeatedly chosen a path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation.”

The executive’s testimony came at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million US users...