It was brutal. It may prove fatal.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew’s testimony to the US House Energy and Commerce Committee yesterday (March 23) felt unconvincing and poorly prepared. Other technology executives have performed equally evasively on Capitol Hill. The difference was that they were not at hearings fighting for their companies’ lives.
Unless the business can at least be sold to a non-Chinese, preferably US owner, Washington lawmakers seem increasingly hell-bent on banning TikTok. If they do so, other countries might follow suit, with several having already banned its installation on government devices, including the UK. For its part, Beijing itself has just said it could block any sale on technology transfer grounds, muddying the situation still further.
“Mr Chew, welcome to the most bipartisan committee in Congress,” declared Buddy Carter, a Republican representative for Georgia. “We may not always agree on how to get there, but we care about our national...