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WASHINGTON ? TikTok is not beholden to the Chinese government and will not share information about American users with it, the social media apps chief executive is expected to promise the United States Congress at a crucial hearing on Thursday.

Mr Chew Shou Zi will make the case to lawmakers that banning the app will hurt American small businesses and damage the countrys economy, as well as impinge on the freedom of speech of its more than 150 million US users, according to his prepared testimony released on Tuesday night ahead of the hearing in Washington.

Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country, said Mr Chew, a Singaporean, who will appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Thursday.

ByteDance is the Chinese company that owns TikTok.

Our approach has been to work transparently and cooperatively with the US government to design robust solutions to address concerns about TikToks heritage, added Mr Chew.

TikTok is facing fierce opposition from Republican and Democrat lawmakers concerned about data privacy and national security, particularly whether parent company ByteDance would be compelled to hand over user data to the Chinese government.

Calls for the app to be banned have mounted, with Congress advancing legislation that would give President Joe Biden the power to restrict or ban the app in America.

The Biden administration is pushing for ByteDance to sell the app or be banned in America, according to US media reports.

But TikTok has become a cultural behemoth in the US, with more than half of Americas population using the app on a monthly basis.

Mr Chew said the average US user today is an adult, who is well past the typical college age of 18 to 22. @tiktok

Our CEO, Shou Chew, shares a special message on behalf of the entire TikTok team to thank our community of 150 million Americans ahead of his congressional hearing later this week. ? original sound – TikTok Americans comprise about 10 per cent of the apps global users, but form about 25 per cent of the total views around the world, he added.

Mr Chew vowed to firewall protect US user data from unauthorised foreign access and grant access to third-party independent monitors, pledging that TikTok would not be manipulated by any government.

TikTok has never shared, or received a request to share, US user data with the Chinese government. Nor would TikTok honour such a request if one were ever made, said Mr Chew.

He also outlined Project Texas TikToks US$1.5 billion (S$2 billion) package of measures to better safeguard US user data and allay US national security concerns.

These measures will ensure that all American user data will be stored on US technology company Oracles servers located in the US, and earlier data stored in non-Oracle servers will be deleted.

When that process is complete, all protected US data will be under the protection of US law and under the control of the US-led security team. Under this structure, there is no way for the Chinese government to access it or compel access to it, said Mr Chew. More On This Topic TikTok CEO says company at pivotal moment as some US lawmakers seek ban BBC urges staff to ditch TikTok on corporate devices over data fears These measures, he argued, were better than a national ban or forced sale of TikTok.

I am well aware that the fact that ByteDance has Chinese founders has prompted concerns that our platform could be used as or become a tool of China or the Chinese Communist Party, said Mr Chew.

But, he added, a ban was inappropriate, and a forced sale would not solve security concerns because a change in ownership would not impose new restrictions on data flows or access.

Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Chew appealed directly to TikTok users on the app and told them that the app faced a pivotal moment in the US.

Some politicians have started talking about banning TikTok. Now this could take TikTok away from all 150 million of you, he said in a minute-long video on the platform.

He also asked American users to leave comments on what you want your elected representatives to know about what you love about TikTok.

TikTok has stepped up a public relations blitz in Washington in recent days, taking out ads in newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post, in addition to ads in metro and train stations around the nations capital.

Privacy control. Your priority. Our commitment, promised a pair of ads in Washingtons Union Station.

Dozens of TikTok content creators are reportedly scheduled to hold a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, alongside Democratic congressman Jamaal Bowman, a rare figure in Washington who has vocally opposed a TikTok ban.

I havent seen any hard evidence that TikTok is committing some form of espionage, Mr Bowman told NBC News in an interview.

What Ive heard is speculation; what Ive heard is innuendo. More On This Topic How China Inc is tackling the TikTok problem US Justice Dept investigating TikToks owner over possible spying on journalists

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”

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