What TikTok's CEO told Congress about the app’s ties to China

[The Morning After]( Now available on your smart speaker and wherever you get your podcasts [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google Podcasts]( It's Friday, March 24, 2023. It turned into a five-hour [showdown]( between TikTok CEO Shou Chew and US lawmakers, who have found suspicion of TikTok to be a rare source of bipartisan agreement. It comes as US officials told the company they could ban the app if it doesn’t separate itself from ByteDance. As with previous hearings with social media executives, lawmakers pressed Chew for often impossible yes-no answers to complex questions and grew frustrated when he declined to give one. In one exchange, Representative Tony Cardenas asked Chew whether ByteDance was a Chinese company. He would only admit it was a “global” firm with a Chinese founder. The hearing was also notably different from previous hearings with other social media company CEOs because the vast majority of lawmakers are not active on TikTok. Not all of their questions were nuanced, either: Representative Richard Hudson demanded to know if TikTok can “access the home WiFi network.” TikTok’s future remains uncertain, Chinese officials said Thursday they opposed a sale of the social network. – Mat Smith. The Morning After isn’t just a[newsletter]( – it’s also a daily podcast. Get our daily audio briefings, Monday through Friday, by[subscribing right here](. The biggest stories you might have missed [How and where to buy refurbished tech online]( [‘Star Trek: Picard’ thinks the kids aren’t alright]( [Twitter says it's killing legacy verified checkmarks starting on April 1st]( [SEC charges Lindsay Lohan and other celebrities for illegally touting crypto]( They didn't disclose they were being paid to promote certain coins. 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Archer estimates a flight in one of its air taxis will only take 10 minutes to travel from O’Hare to its destination at a downtown helipad. [Continue reading.]( The Morning After is a daily newsletter from Engadget designed to help you fight off FOMO. Who knows what you'll miss if you don't [subscribe](. Now available on your smart speaker and wherever you get your podcasts: [Apple Podcasts]( | [Spotify]( | [Google Podcasts]( Craving even more? [Like us on Facebook]( or [follow us on Twitter](. Have a suggestion on how we can improve The Morning After? [Send us a note.]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Youtube]( [Instagram]( You are receiving this email because you opted in at [engadget.com](. Not interested anymore? [Unsubscribe from this newsletter.]( Copyright © 2023 Yahoo. All rights reserved.