TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew appeared before Congress on Thursday, where he was grilled by representatives who had questions about the video sharing app’s ties to the Chinese government, content moderation practices and data security:

• Chew told members of Congress that TikTok parent company ByteDance Ltd. may still have access to some U.S. data. That won’t be the case once the company implements Project Texas, a plan designed to assuage security concerns by migrating U.S. user data to local servers operated by Oracle Corp.
• Despite Chew’s assurances that TikTok operates independently of Beijing-based ByteDance, members of Congress remained skeptical, with Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Dela.) telling the executive, “I’ve not been reassured by anything you’ve said so far. I think quite frankly your testimony has raised more questions for me than answers.”
• The hearing is expected to put a strain on U.S.-China relations, particularly as China’s government signaled it would fight any attempt to force Chinese investors to sell their shares of TikTok. A publication owned by the Chinese Communist Party said the hearing “embarrassed the United States before the world.”
• Given China’s protest of a potential sale, the Biden administration is thought to have two paths: ban the app in the United States or revisit an agreement to address national security concerns that would allow the app to continue to operate within the country.
• While Congress questioned TikTok’s chief executive, 16 free speech organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union, sent a letter to members of Congress urging them not to ban the app, warning that doing so would have “serious ramifications for free expression.
• How did Chew do? Casey Newton of Platformer says: Not great.

In other top news today:

• Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed into law two bills that will restrict children and teenagers from accessing social media without the consent of their parents. The laws, set to go into effect on March 1, 2024, will require companies to give parents or guardians access to their child’s accounts and will establish an in-state curfew that will bar minors from using the platforms from 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (Axios)
• Twitter Inc. announced that starting April 1, it will begin removing “legacy” verified checkmarks given to users of interest to authenticate their identity on the platform prior to Elon Musk’s takeover. Verified checkmarks will still be available to businesses, government officials and users who pay a monthly subscription to Twitter Blue. (TechCrunch)
• Microsoft Corp., accused by rivals of abusing its dominance by bundling its OneDrive cloud storage service with its Windows operating systems, has failed to address the concerns of antitrust complaints raised by competitors Nextcloud GmbH and OVH Groupe SA, opening the company up to a potential formal investigation from E.U. regulators. (Reuters)

Happening today: 

• Think tank R Street will host an event titled “Startups and the Data Privacy Patchwork” that will explore how startup companies can navigate the growing number of state-level data privacy laws. Speakers include Olga Medina, director of policy at The Software Alliance, and Sam Caucci, founder and chief executive officer of 1Huddle.

TikTok’s popularity complicates possible U.S. ban

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