DeGette presses TikTok CEO on efforts to combat spread of dangerous misinformation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, pressed the CEO of TikTok today to provide the American people specific details on what the company is doing to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation on its platform.

With more than 150 million users in the United States, TikTok’s CEO Shou Chew testified Thursday before the House Energy and Commerce panel where he told lawmakers that he believed the company had a responsibility to do more to combat the spread of misinformation on its platform.

“I recognize, and fully align with you, that this is a problem that faces our industry and we need to really invest in this,” Chew said in response to a series of questions from DeGette about what steps the company was taking to protect users in the U.S. from potentially dangerous misinformation.

DeGette, however, told Chew that the mere promise of future investment to combat the spread of such misinformation, alone, was not enough and she wanted to know specifically what steps the company was taking to protect the millions of young people who use the platform daily.  

“You have current controls, but the current controls are not working to keep misinformation mainly from young people, but from Americans in general,” DeGette said. “I asked you specifically, how you were increasing your review of this and you gave me only generalized statements that you’re investing, that you’re concerned, that you’re doing more. That’s not enough for me. That’s not enough for the parents of America.”

DeGette, who introduced legislation earlier this year to combat the spread of health misinformation online, cited several studies that found numerous instances of dangerous health misinformation being pushed to TikTok users in America – including absurdly false claims about herbal remedies that can be used to induce an abortion, and tutorials on how to make Hydroxychloroquine from grapefruit to prevent COVID-19.

“If people searching for information on safe abortions went on TikTok, they could get devastatingly incorrect information,” DeGette said. “I want to know … what more is TikTok doing to try to strengthen its review to keep this information from coming across to people?”

Chew responded that misinformation was not allowed on the company’s platform, which DeGette quickly interrupted by saying, “I’m sorry to report, it is on your platform.”

Chew eventually conceded that the spread of misinformation by bad actors was a problem that TikTok and the industry, as a whole, is facing and needs to be addressed.

“I don’t think I can sit here and say that we’re perfect in doing this,” Chew said.

“How can you make yourself more perfect?” DeGette responded. “I don’t want you to say it’s not there, or you apologize. What can you do to limit it as much as possible, more than what you’re doing now?”

Chew said TikTok, as well as other social media companies, need to increase their investment in proactive efforts to monitor the content on their platforms and actively remove harmful misinformation that appears. DeGette demanded that Chew follow up with the committee after the hearing to provide additional details on the specific steps TikTok is taking to prevent the spread of misinformation on its platform.

“I’m going to ask you to supplement your testimony and have your experts tell me what you’re doing to make this a higher level of scrutiny, not just pablum at a hearing,” DeGette said.

Video of the full 5-minute exchange between DeGette and the CEO of TikTok is available here.