Up next to question the TikTok CEO is Representative Frank Pallone Jr.

Pallone turns to potential privacy issues, saying that "TikTok is making all kinds of money taking private information then they sell it".

"Can you commit to not selling data?" he asks.

Chew says TikTok doesn't sell to data brokers and doesn't collect precise GPS location data nor does it gather health data.

"We are committed to being very transparent," he says, adding TikTok isn't collecting more data than other tech companies.

Image source, Getty Images

We are now on to the questioning of TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew.

It begins with a tense exchange over whether TikTok can be used to promote "an act of aggression against Taiwan" or spy on US citizens.

Responding to questions from Republican Cathy Rodgers, the TikTok CEO insists the company does not remove content at the behest of any government and will protect user data against surveillance.

But Representative Rodgers responds by describing the platform as a "weapon" used by the Chinese government to manipulate what US citizens see and collect data on them.

Shou Zi Chew has begun a spirited defence of TikTok, making the case for possible benefits to children and young people in the form of educational videos.

Videos about STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) topics have been watched more than 116 billion times on the platform, he says.

He adds that TikTok takes national security concerns very seriously, adding that ByteDance is "not owned or controlled by the Chinese government", with 60% of its shared owned by global investors and three of its five board members form the US.

James Clayton
North America technology reporter

Chew is wearing a suit - not the hoodie and t-shirt he sported in his TikTok video.

He is linking himself as closely to the West as possible, pointing to his US and UK education.

His wife was born a few miles from where the hearing is taking place, he says, emphasising that TikTok is a US based company.

This fits with his strategy: to dampen TikTok’s connection to China.

Image source, Getty Images

Now we are hearing from TikTok CEO Shou Chew, who introduces himself.

Chew takes pains to distance himself and the company from the Chinese government, saying he was born in Singapore, attended college in the UK before moving to the US where he met his wife.

TikTok's headquarters, he says, are in Los Angeles.

Image source, Getty Images

The committee's minority leader, Democrat Chuck Pallone, is making his own opening remarks - which seem to align with his Republican colleagues.

Like Republican chairwoman Cathy Rodgers, he accuses TikTok of being designed in a way that harms its users, as well as collecting more user data than they need.

Pallone says US citizens are powerless to control their own privacy in the face of big tech companies, singling out TikTok's "vast troves" of data that create an addictive platform and algorithm.

He adds that the Chinese ownership of the company, combined with its addictive planform, make TikTok a particular threat to US interests

Chairwoman Cathy Rodgers has finished her opening remarks, but she didn't hold back as she addressed TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew.

Watch a clip of her punchy opening in Washington.

James Clayton
North America technology reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Chair Rodgers has come out swinging. She’s not holding back, setting the tenor for the rest of this hearing.

TikTok collects “every data point imaginable”, she says.

“Your platform should be banned" she says to CEO Shou Zi Chew. "I suspect today you’ll say anything to avoid this outcome.”

If the opening minutes are any indication, Shou Chew is in for a rough few hours.

Chairwoman Cathy Rodgers has started the hearing with scathing criticism of TikTok.

The Republican congresswoman says the US should ban the platform for a variety of reasons, saying it threatens innocent children and poses a threat to national security because of TikTok's Chinese owner ByteDance.

Rodgers says it promotes mental health issues in young people and facilitates drug dealers.

She adds that the US government must be prepared to ban any platform the Chinese government might use to track American citizens.

Image source, Reuters

The hearing is now underway.

Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers kicks things off.

"Today the world is watching," she says. "But the answers you owe are to the American people."

Tik Tok CEO Shou Zi Chew is in the room being swarmed by photographers and the hearing is set to begin in a few minutes.

If you'd like to watch, you can click the play icon at the top of the page.

We'll bring you all the key moments and analysis of what he has to say here - so stick with us.

Image source, Getty Images

Excerpts from the TikTok CEO’s opening testimony were released on Wednesday. Shou Zi Chew will make an appeal to lawmakers that the app is safe for US users and does not pose a national security threat.

Chew will tell Congress: “The bottom line is this. American data stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel.”

On Tuesday, he posted a TikTok to the company’s main account from a hotel in Washington DC, asking American users to share what they liked about the company.

He is expected to include some of the comments from that video in his testimony, to show how the app positively impacts people’s lives in the US:

• @kallmerkis: "This app literally gave me a new career. A career that has allowed me to make millions of people laugh, and has allowed me to give back in ways I never thought would be possible.”
• @18hens: "This app has allowed so many of us struggling with mental health to support one another, share resources, and feel less alone. Losing this app would be like losing a support group and a lot of us just can't afford that right now."

And lastly, in the prepared remarks, Chew will highlight a new document that is coming out that details myths versus facts on the company - hoping to dispel misinformation about the company’s connection to the Chinese government.

TikTok content creators rallied outside the Capitol in Washington yesterday to voice their support for the app.

They were joined by New York Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman, who has fervently defended the platform.

Holding "keep TikTok" signs, content creators spoke to journalists and explained why the platform was important to them.

In an interview with NBC News, Jorge Alverez, a mental health advocate, said he had been able to use TikTok to build a community and democratise mental health resources and education by sharing his own experiences.

Nancy Bullard, a science teacher, told NBC the app has allowed her "to break down the four walls of my classroom, and educate millions of people all over the world".

Image source, Getty Images

At the rally, Bowman said there is a need for comprehensive legislation, which will ensure social media users' data is safe and secure.

But Bowman added that "banning TikTok won't solve that problem".

"Let's not be racist towards China and express our xenophobia when it comes to TikTok, because American companies have done tremendous harm to American people," Bowman said.

Nearly two and a half years ago, President Donald Trump issued an executive order threatening to ban TikTok if it didn’t sell to a US-based company.

Oracle and Walmart were touted at the time as potential buyers, but the move kicked off a lengthy legal dispute that delayed the possibility of a ban.

When President Joe Biden took office in 2021, he revoked the Trump order but issued his own directive to investigate the national security threats posed by the app. He now supports a ban.

Lawmakers have stepped up their scrutiny of the platform since then, with one media report last year suggesting that Chinese-based US employees had accessed US user data on several occasions.

Last December, two bills were introduced in the US Congress: one seeking to block Chinese-owned (and Russian-owned) social media companies from doing business in the US, and another barring federal employees from using TikTok on their government-issued devices.

The latter has since been enacted into law, while the former - which has not yet been implemented - explicitly empowers President Biden to ban the app nationally.

Michelle Fleury
Reporting from Congress

Lots of apps collect and retain information about its users. So what’s special about TikTok?

US authorities worry that TikTok’s Chinese ownership (it is owned by ByteDance) makes it untrustworthy.

The US government fears China could use its national security laws to force TikTok to hand over the significant amount of personal information it collects from its US users.

Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee labelled TikTok "a modern day trojan horse of the [Chinese Communist Party]" back in February, albeit one wrapped up in cute and catchy short form videos.

If Beijing is able to gather personal and sensitive information on Americans, they could use that power to push certain content or propaganda to users, with potentially enormous repercussions for things like a US election.

Another concern is that the data would reveal people’s habits which might make them vulnerable to blackmail.

Following in Donald Trump’s footsteps, President Joe Biden is also trying to get the app banned in America. And Shou Zi Chew is here in Congress today to prove it should not be.

Nicholas Yong
Reporting from Singapore

Image source, Getty Images

Little is known about the way Shou Zi Chew, 40, operates or even how much power he truly holds at the company as its CEO.

Chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas has been the public face of TikTok, and was grilled by Congress last September about US data flows to China.

A New York Times profile last September, citing former TikTok and ByteDance executives, also suggested that Chew's ability to make decisions is limited, and that ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming holds the reins at the company.

But TikTok is now putting Chew front and centre publicly, at a time when TikTok's connections to the Chinese government are under great scrutiny.

In a letter to lawmakers last June stressing that it operates autonomously of parent company ByteDance, the company took pains to note that he is not from China but "a Singaporean based in Singapore".

You can read more about Shou Zi Chew in our profile piece here.

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew will be questioned by US lawmakers in Congress later over the app's relationship with China, what data it collects, and what it does with it.

Chew will address the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee at 10:00 am (14:00 GMT).

We'll be bringing you the latest developments, and you will also be able to watch the questioning live by clicking the play button at the top of this page later on.

James Clayton
North America technology reporter

Shou Zi Chew is going to need to give the performance of a lifetime in front of US lawmakers later. And already, close observers have seen a change of tactic from the Singaporean.

TikTok's boss, who has had a range of senior positions in the world of finance, generally sports a suit jacket and tie.

But on Tuesday, he posted a TikTok with a very different look.

Instead of a suit, he was wearing a white T-shirt and hoodie - the uniform of the nonchalant tech founder.

The 40-year-old was suddenly speaking like a teenager too - talking of being "super excited".

"I think he's trying to give off a sort of the casual tech bro," said Caitlin Chin from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a bipartisan think tank.

"He's actually been starting to gain a bit more of a public profile, especially leading up to this hearing."

Marianna Brady
Live reporter

Image source, Getty Images

TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew is set to appear for the first time before the US Congress as the prospect of a national ban on the hugely popular Chinese-owned social platform looms on the horizon.

Lawmakers on the House Energy and Commerce Committee will question Chew this morning DC time about the app’s consumer privacy and data security practices, its impact on children and its relationship with the Chinese government.

We'll be building up to the hearing in just under two hours' time with all the context and analysis you need. Stay with us.