Letter to TikTok CEO Shou Chew on Censorship

Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party and Select Committee members sent a letter to TikTok CEO Show Chew expressing grave concern about TikTok's ongoing censorship and monitoring individuals who view LGBT-aligned content -- at what appears to be at the behest of its Chinese-based owner, ByteDance, and the Chinese Communist Party.

In part, the lawmakers wrote, "Just last week, TikTok suspended a TikTok account from the Acton Institute, which was sharing video clips from a documentary about Hong Kong newspaper owner Jimmy Lai, who was imprisoned for his support for Hong Kong’s democracy movement. Recent reporting also revealed that TikTok was tracking individuals who interacted with gay content, and a third report published internal documents showing how TikTok’s parent company ByteDance tracks and censors “sensitive words”—in practice, topics disfavored by the Chinese Communist Party."

Lawmakers conveyed to Chew that companies controlled by foreign adversaries have no place censoring American speech or controlling the information space, making six demands to provide the below information no later than May 24:

• All documents and communications related to moderation decisions around Acton’s account, including content censorship, account suspension and reinstatement

• All policies, guidelines, and communications that describe or discuss content moderation, including the enforcement of “community guidelines”

• All documents and communications between ByteDance and TikTok regarding content moderation either in the U.S. or abroad

• All information about TikTok’s “heating” of content on behalf of the CCP, PRC government, ByteDance, or any other PRC entity

• An explanation of whether TikTok believes that Jimmy Lai’s detention comports with the rule of law or democratic principles and, if not, the implications of Mr. Lai’s detention for press freedom

• All documents and communications related to the process and methodology of putting TikTok users on lists or tracking them—including but not limited to the tracking of users who watched gay content as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

Representatives Rob Wittman, Blaine Luetkemeyer, Andy Barr, Dan Newhouse, John Moolenaar, Darin LaHood, Neal P. Dunn, Jim Banks, Dusty Johnson, Michelle Steel, Ashely Hinson, and Carlos Gimenez cosigned the letter.

Click HERE to read the full letter.