TikTok CEO faces off with Congress over security fears
Washington (AP): The CEO of TikTok will make a high-profile appearance Thursday before a US Congressional committee, where he'll face a grilling on data security and user safety while he makes his own case for why the hugely popular video-sharing app shouldn't be banned.
Shou Zi Chew's testimony comes at a crucial time for the company, which has acquired 150 million American users but is under increasing pressure from US officials.
TikTok and its parent company ByteDance have been swept up in a wider geopolitical battle between Beijing and Washington over trade and technology.
Chew, a 40-year-old Singapore native, is making a rare public appearance to counter the volley of accusations that TikTok has been facing.
On Wednesday, the company sent dozens of popular TikTokers to Capitol Hill to lobby lawmakers to preserve the platform. It has also been putting up ads all over Washington that tout promises of securing users data and privacy and creating a safe platform for its young users.
Chew plans to tell the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce that TikTok prioritises the safety of its young users and deny allegations that the app is a national security risk, according to his prepared remarks released ahead of the hearing.
TikTok has been dogged by claims that its Chinese ownership means user data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government or that it could be used to promote narratives favourable to the country's Communist leaders.
"We understand the popularity of Tiktok, we get that," said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a press conference Wednesday afternoon. "But the President's job is to make sure again that the Americans, national security is protected as well. "
For its part, TikTok has been trying to distance itself from its Chinese origins, saying that 60 per cent of its parent company ByteDance is owned by global institutional investors such as Carlyle Group. ByteDance was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs in Beijing in 2012.
"Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country," Chew said.
A US ban on an app would be unprecedented and it's unclear how the government would go about enforcing it.
Experts says officials could try to force Apple and Google to remove TikTok from their app stores, preventing new users from downloading it as well as preventing existing users from updating it, ultimately rendering it useless.
The US could also block access to TikTok's infrastructure and data, seize its domain names or force internet service providers like Comcast and Verizon to filter TikTok data traffic, said Ahmed Ghappour, a criminal law and computer security expert who teachers at Boston University School of Law.
But a tech savvy user could still get around restrictions by using a virtual private network to make it appear the user is in another country where it's not blocked, he said.
To avoid a ban, TikTok has been trying to sell officials on a USD 1.5 billion plan called Project Texas, which routes all US user data to domestic servers owned and maintained by software giant Oracle.
Under the project, access to US data is managed by US employees through a separate entity called TikTok US Data Security, which employs 1,500 people, is run independently of ByteDance and would be monitored by outside observers.
As of October, all new US user data was being stored inside the country. The company started deleting all historic US user data from non-Oracle servers this month, in a process expected to be completed later this year, Chew said.
A number of Western countries including Denmark, Canada, and New Zealand, along with the European Union, have already banned TikTok from devices issued to government employees, citing cybersecurity concerns.
In the US, the federal government, Congress, the armed forces and more than half of states have banned the app from official devices.
David Kennedy, a former government intelligence officer who runs the cybersecurity company TrustedSec, agrees with restricting TikTok access on government-issued phones because they might contain sensitive military information or other confidential material. A nationwide ban, however, might be too extreme, he said. He also wondered where it might lead.
"We have Tesla in China, we have Microsoft in China, we have Apple in China. Are they going to start banning us now?" Kennedy said. "It could escalate very quickly."
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
No shame in saying that India can field multiple T20 teams: Suryakumar
New Delhi (PTI): India’s T20 World Cup-winning captain Suryakumar Yadav believes the country’s talent pool in the shortest format has grown so vast that it could comfortably field two or even three international-quality teams at the same time, underlining the depth created by a thriving domestic structure and franchise ecosystem.
The flamboyant batter, who has overseen a period of remarkable consistency since taking over the leadership after the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024, credited the steady pipeline of players emerging from domestic competitions and the Indian Premier League for strengthening India’s dominance in T20 cricket.
Since Suryakumar took over the captaincy in 2024 -- right after Rohit Sharma stepped down following the World Cup victory in Barbados -- the Indian team has won 42 of the 52 matches played, reflecting team's dominance in a fickle format.
In a podcast interview with PTI Videos on Sunday, Suryakumar called the current group "the best T20 team India has produced", adding that India’s depth in T20 cricket is now too evident to be downplayed.
"If you talk about talent, I feel you can find talent regularly. There is IPL cricket, franchise cricket, then there is domestic cricket. You can see how many players come every year. So you can make as many teams as you want in T20 when I am talking about T20," Suryakumar said.
"So I feel talent is unlimited. If you can make two-three playing XIs, our base is so strong, of the Indian team. So this is not a modest and diplomatic reply. But now it is so strong, so there is no shame in telling the truth," he said.
Team effort behind 80 per cent win rate
=========================
Suryakumar credited the team's success coming into the World Cup to a collective approach in the dressing room, saying a shared vision among players and support staff helped produce an impressive 80 per cent win rate in a notoriously unpredictable format.
Even with that success rate, the World Cup was not going to be a cake-walk because as Suryakumar noted, "we played bilateral matches one way, and in ICC tournament something else happened." For this reason, he needed to motivate the team to maintain the winning streak in the Feb 7 to March 8 tournament.
"I don't pay too much attention to statistics but I hate losing any game. If everyone in the dressing room moves in the same direction, only then can you achieve such a percentage," he said
India's consistency in T20Is over the past 18 months has been widely attributed to a stable leadership group led by Suryakumar and head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Batting a mix of instinct and reaction
=======================
Known for his 360-degree strokeplay, Suryakumar described batting in T20 cricket as largely a reactive sport, with preparation accounting for only part of the process.
"I feel batting is about 70–75 per cent reaction. The remaining 25 per cent is instinct, what you decide to do in the moment. Once you enter the ground, you are almost in autopilot mode. You try to bat with rhythm and according to the situation," he said.
He also traced the origins of his unconventional range of shots to childhood rubber-ball games in Mumbai, where uneven boundary sizes forced him to improvise.
Thin line between courage and recklessness
============================
While his audacious strokeplay is often described as high risk, Suryakumar said he tries to stay on the right side of the fine line separating courage from recklessness.
"There is a very thin line between being courageous and being reckless. I try to stay on the courageous side. But if the situation demands a high-risk shot, you have to take it. High rewards often require high-risk decisions," he explained.
Clear understanding with Gambhir
=====================
The skipper also highlighted his strong working relationship with coach Gautam Gambhir, revealing that the duo were almost perfectly aligned when they first sat down to select the team after he was handed the reins of the team and Gambhir took over as coach.
"Out of 15 names we both suggested, 14 were common. That means the thinking was the same. When the goals are clear, there are no arguments, only discussions."
Despite their professional success, Suryakumar said their personal dynamic remains unchanged.
"I still call him 'Gauti bhai'. It is like a younger brother and elder brother relationship," he said.
