Rep. Trahan of Massachusetts recaps TikTok congressional hearing

Rep. Lori Trahan, who represents the state's 3rd congressional, was among the U.S. lawmakers who questioned TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew during Thursday's hearing.

Because TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in Beijing, there are worries that the data of American users could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.

Chew said that TikTok's U.S. user data is stored, by default, on the servers of Texas-based Oracle and that only vetted personnel operating in a new company called "TikTok U.S. Data Security" can control access to that data.

"The bottom line is this: American data stored on American soil by an American company overseen by American personnel," Chew said.

During a live interview with NewsCenter 5 on Saturday, Trahan said she does not believe Chew did anything to build confidence about protecting the data of American TikTok users.

"The same morning that he was testifying, the Chinese government came out and said that they would not allow a sale, which tells you everything you need to know about the influence that they have on the company," Trahan said. "Walling off data in this day and age, where data is global and crosses boundaries every nanosecond of the day, we need a lot more assurance of how that data would be treated."

When Trahan questioned Chew, she focused on asking him about TikTok's transparency and the steps the social media giant is taking to protect children from harmful content. The congressman has also pushed Facebook and Google about those same issues and is among the U.S. lawmakers who are pushing to pass a comprehensive privacy bill.

"Our laws have not kept pace with the rapid evolution of these tech platforms. But one by one, these CEOs have an opportunity to do the right thing and when they come to Congress and are faced with these substantive questions, they just don't have answers on what they're going to do to protect our children," Trahan said. "They know that mental health is playing out in real time on their platforms. They have not redesigned their platforms to deal with that and then, frankly, they're surveilling our kids and targeting ads and pushing content to them that's not age-appropriate."

Trahan said she was disappointed that Chew, knowing that she would ask those questions, did not have a response that detailed tangible actions TikTok is taking to protect kids.

Two days before the congressional hearing, Chew said that TikTok has 150 million monthly active users in the United States, so an outright ban of the app in the U.S. could create substantial backlash — especially since some people make a substantial amount of money through TikTok.

Trahan said that U.S. lawmakers are concerned about the backlash a TikTok ban could create and they must take a thoughtful approach to the subject.

"The legislation that's been introduced has made sure that we're putting our national concerns first, but that we go through a process," the congresswoman said. "This is ultimately going to be up to the [Biden] administration to continue its investigation and negotiation, to see if there's a way that TikTok can exist while also protecting our national security. It has to be a very substantive process so that we can communicate that to the American people."

Trahan said that she did not think Chew did himself any favors when it came to ending the debate of a TikTok ban in the U.S. because he left too many questions unanswered during Thursday's hearing.