Cruz Presses TikTok Executive on Company’s China Ties

TikTok probably felt it was safe to send an executive — Michael Beckerman, the head of its public-policy shop — to testify before Congress for the first time ever this week. After all, the furor over the company’s Chinese ownership had fallen out of the headlines, and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing’s focus was “Protecting Kids Online” — a contentious issue, to be sure, but not one that has to do with the app’s role as a Trojan horse for a foreign dictatorship.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has had a good run of late. Upon taking office, President Biden rescinded his predecessor’s orders banning the app, which had in the meantime been blocked by a federal judge, in favor of a broader data-security policy overhaul to be rolled out later. All of that put TikTok’s China ties on the back burner.

About the Author

Jimmy Quinn

Jimmy Quinn is the former national security correspondent for National Review.

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TikTok probably felt it was safe to send an executive — Michael Beckerman, the head of its public-policy shop — to testify before Congress for the first time ever this week. After all, the furor over the company’s Chinese ownership had fallen out of the headlines, and the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing’s focus was “Protecting Kids Online” — a contentious issue, to be sure, but not one that has to do with the app’s role as a Trojan horse for a foreign dictatorship.

TikTok, which is owned by Chinese tech giant ByteDance, has had a good run of late. Upon taking office, President Biden rescinded his predecessor’s orders banning the app, which had in the meantime been blocked by a federal judge, in favor of a broader data-security policy overhaul to be rolled out later. All of that put TikTok’s China ties on the back burner.