Congress Railroads TikTok CEO: Yes or No!

The blame of TikTok addiction seems to be solely put on the CEO of TikTok, Shou Chew, not on the person using TikTok. The blame for “challenges” seems to also rest on Shou Chew's shoulders, not on the parents or the person using the app. When do we stop blaming the person creating the app and start looking at the adults, parents, and children that are using the app? Mr. Chew has spoken many times about parents needing to speak to their children on boundaries and monitoring of the app. And yet, Congress would rather blame the person that created the app.

Congress also does not seem to understand that every country that has the app is different from the United States. While Congress is leaning towards banning the app and eliminating the freedom of speech and expression. They don’t seem to understand that they cannot just ask a question and continue to scream, “Yes or No!” without allowing Mr. Chew to answer as they interrupt and belittle him.

When asked about other countries banning TikTok from government devices was laughable at best. Why would an app be on a phone or tablet that belongs to the government? It is only supposed to be used for their work, not to be used to mess around during their employment. What has congress come to when they start to attack another person for creating an app to allow others to express themselves? While Mr. Chew has stated that their company is not perfect and that they are constantly working on doing better. It only fell on deaf ears with many of the congressmen who were demeaning and disrespectful throughout the trial. The look of despair on Mr. Chew's face as Congress continues to push him down and even look down on him.

When claiming that TikTok is a spy, so many laughed at this as if ignoring the fact that Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Alexa will listen in on us and try to get the algorithm correct for us and target Ads toward our needs. The whole trial was just sad and ridiculous to watch as one man was continuously ignored and disrespected throughout this. Told to just answer yes or no, continue to be scoffed at when trying to explain further. Cut off to the point of frustration by many users watching their own Congress bash Mr. Chew to the point of silence.

While Congress speaks about algorithms, I don’t believe they understand what that even means to them. Algorithm allows a person to watch videos that they have liked or commented on. Maybe investigate why other videos like the first you commented on or liked to continue to appear in your FYP. Why did a model appear in my kids FYP? Maybe cause your child commented or liked a video before? Why are these dumb challenges on our FYP? Maybe because you liked or commented on another challenge before. Why is this so hard to understand for some? Why are we blaming a person for something the user is doing?

While parents are upset about the app, we ignore the fact that parents can pair it with their children on TikTok. And yet, they still want to blame Mr. Chew for being responsible for their own children and not parenting them correctly about app usage.

TikTok had done many other things, Mr. Chew has brought to light one of the TikTok hashtags. And we all know this, and it is the one and only #BookTok, this is one of the hashtags that has brought a community together. Many people state that they have read so many books because of this hashtag and not only this but the hashtag has revived the publishing and self-publishing industry. And of course, speaking of reviving, we have seen so many small businesses soar to the clouds because of promoting their business, including doing boxing videos of people’s orders. This has been an ongoing trend for small businesses to do. So many have used the app to do so much good, including talking about science, politics, and even history. While Mr. Chew is right that so much good cannot be overlooked by a few bad actors. Why is one spoiled apple allowed to ruin the other apples? Remove it and move on, ignore it and block them. There is nothing else we can do but use the common sense that we have to allow us to remove the negativity from our sights.

So many others use the app including NBC, McDonalds, and Actors who want to communicate with their fans. Not even the night before was Stephen Amell on TikTok talking with his fans and laughing with them. Dante Basco likes to “Stitch” others talking or cosplaying or even sharing old clips of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Hook, and American Dragon: Jake Long.

Is Congress out of touch with TikTok? Yes, very much they are. They do not seem to understand that while you are an adult you consent to the algorithm. They do not seem to understand that an App CANNOT parent a child or teenager. And they do not seem to understand the disrespect and how demeaning they have been throughout this trial towards TikTok and Mr. Chew. Even now Congress is still refusing to allow Mr. Chew to speak and try to inform them of the next steps or even the facts. They merely ignore him and talk over them. Is this a trial or a witch hunt from Congress? What are they afraid of when it comes to TikTok?