There’s no question that TikTok absolutely blew up in popularity during the 2020 global pandemic. Now the most popular social media app in the world, TikTok initially launched in 2016 and became available worldwide a couple of years later.

The world of influencers and entertainers expanded, brands re-strategized, and right before our very eyes, the next generation began to revolve their entire lives around the app’s cultural and lifestyle trends.

With an app that is heavily influencing young Americans today, what could possibly go wrong, right?

For starters, most people are aware that China owns the social media app, (specifically Chinese parent company ByteDance) and rumors of users’ data being accessed by the Chinese government has led to the United States recently threatening to ban the app nationally due to potential security threats.

This prompted TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew to testify before Congress and defend the app on the world stage.

But who is Shou Zi Chew and why did this potential ban force him to get out of the shadows when more than 30 other countries have already banned the app on all government devices?

Initially an entrepreneur from Singapore, Chew became the CFO of ByteDance in March 2021, being promoted to CEO a year later.

President Joe Biden suggested instituting a national ban on TikTok if ByteDance doesn’t sell its shares in the app, ideally to an American company.

Appearing before a U.S. congressional committee today, Chew will answer lawmakers’ questions about TikTok and the amount of access the Chinese government actually has with user data.

More importantly, Chew will be discussing concerns about the impact TikTok has on Generation Z and Millennial’s mental health as anxiety, depression and suicide rates skyrocket, coincidentally within the same years TikTok has grown in popularity.

We will be keeping eyes on this story as it develops.

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