Two representatives of the TikTok social network were heard, this Thursday, June 8, by the investigative commission dedicated to the social network. For more than six hours, many topics of contention followed, whether it was China, data transfer, or addiction and the danger to the very young.
A series of questions all the more frustrating that at the end of this commission, Eric Garandeau, director of public affairs, and Marlène Masure, director of operations for TikTok France, gave almost no answer. “In fact, I did not learn anything and I did not expect miracles”, decides the rapporteur of the commission Claude Malhuret (Horizons), interviewed by Tech&Co.
“Total separation” between Europe and China
On relations with China, the two representatives of the social network are formal: “there is a total separation of activities.” At the beginning of the session, Claude Malhuret reminded everyone of the organization chart of the company in its European version.
“We were surprised not to see the name of the president of TikTok France appear there,” he says. This name is Zhao Tian, a Chinese-Canadian businesswoman at the helm of TikTok Ltd, and therefore of TikTok France. She is also the vice president of Douyin Ltd, the parent company of the Chinese version of TikTok. Eric Garandeau and Marlène Masure affirm that they “never met her” and that the president in question occupies a position “without operational responsibility”.
As TikTok is a simplified company with a single shareholder, Zhao Tian is the sole owner before the Commercial Court registry. “You are aware that since the Chinese laws of 2017 and 2019, any Chinese citizen or company is obliged to collaborate with the government, be it in terms of intelligence or otherwise, and this even extraterritorially”, recalls Claude Malhuret . And Eric Garandeau to answer him, a certain number of times, that the president in question has no operational function.
Given the evasive responses of the director of Public Affairs, the members of the commission continue to ask questions about the hierarchy of the company and its possible links to China. Nothing conclusive will come of it.
No answer, either, about the operation of the algorithm, or about the owner of its intellectual property. Eric Garandeau says that the app is currently developing APIs, devices intended for better understanding and testing of algorithms.
It is true that TikTok, despite its sudden and rapid growth, is only a few years old: the argument will be used many times during the hearing.
Clover Project News
On possible data transfers to China, the answers will not be more enlightening. Eric Garandeau, however, gives news of the Clover project, a European data center project aimed at managing user data on the continent, promising “news within fifteen months.” He indicates that the “yard is off the ground, in Norway.”
It will not reveal the name of the digital service provider chosen by the company to store the data, but says it is “not a US partner.” A statement that will be, in the afternoon, denied by his colleague Marlène Masure, who specifies that the future datacenter will opt for an American solution. “The American Cloud Act is not connected to the European DSA, you know that?” Claude Malhuret replied.
Marlène Masure as Eric Garandeau also claim to be “very confident” in TikTok’s ability to comply with the rules of the future European DSA. When Claude Malhuret reads a report he considers “really damning” from Arcom, full of unstated responses, Eric Garandeau will explain that said report came at the time of the company’s compliance musings.
“Double Talk”
At the end of the assignment, Claude Malhuret laments to Tech&Co that these audiences “were a demonstration of what the language of wood is.” And to continue: “Unfortunately I expected a bit of that.”
For him, “these hearings show that we did the right thing in setting up this commission of inquiry to clarify certain things and confirm or deny facts.” He refers to the three issues that guided these two audiences: the link between TikTok and China, misinformation, and addiction problems among the youngest.
The rapporteur also renews the invitation to Zhao Tian at the helm of TikTok Ltd, and therefore TikTok France, to speak before the committee.
In conclusion, this commission will have brought more questions than answers in the social network of all discord. It must end in September and decide the measures to take towards the social network.
Source: BFM TV
