Congress Begs TikTok CEO For Their Home WiFi Passwords
The CEO of a tech company and a group of 68-year-olds came together for a meeting of the minds.
The scene was tense on Thursday as TikTok CEO, Shou Zi Chew, testified before US lawmakers. Their main point of concern? To safeguard American privacy and to protect children from online harms.
The hearing began with the House Energy and Commerce Committee asking standard questions like, "Are you a spy?" and "Are you a Communist spy?" However, the line of questioning quickly turned from general privacy to troubleshooting tips and tricks.
Richard Hudson, a Republican representative from North Carolina asked, "does TikTok access the home WiFi network?" Confused by the question, Chew responded, "Only if the user turns on the WiFi." Elated with Chew's understanding of the subject matter, members of the committee began barraging Chew with questions about their own, home WiFi networks.
"Do you know the password to my WiFi network? I lost the sticky note with my passwords."
"Do you know if my WiFi password is still the old one?"
"I don't know my WiFi password and I'm afraid to ask my daughter again!"
The lawmakers' curiosity turned to desperation as they started pleading to Chew, begging for their WiFi passwords. The WiFi related discussion carried on for 85 minutes until a lunch break was mercifully given. When the group reconvened after the break, they began asking Chew questions about streaming services and made many jokes about "the cloud," which they all seemed to enjoy.
No progress was made on the matter of online privacy.