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WASHINGTON – With his hands folded on his lap and a black tumbler with a TikTok logo in front of him, TikTok chief executive Chew Shou Zi was a picture of calm facing a sea of photojournalists snapping his picture in the 10 minutes before the start of Thursdays House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing.

But as impassive as he was under fire, Mr Chew whom the Washington Post described as soft-spoken, earnest and temperate during a heated hearing that lasted five hours could not convince the congressmen that the social media app did not pose a national security threat to the United States.

The minds of the more than 50 congressmen who grilled the Singaporean CEO appeared mostly made up from the start. Many were vocally sceptical that TikTok was truly not beholden to Beijing, given its ownership by Chinese parent company ByteDance.

The app, used by more than 150 million Americans, has been accused of being anything from a Chinese espionage tool to a method of indoctrinating children amid soaring US-China tensions, though lawmakers have not presented evidence of such occurrences.

We do not trust TikTok will ever embrace American values, said committee chairman Cathy Rodgers in her opening statement, which she read out before posing questions to Mr Chew. TikTok has repeatedly chosen the path for more control, more surveillance and more manipulation. Your platform should be banned. Remote video URL Mr Frank Pallone Jr, the committees top Democrat, was dismissive of Mr Chews characterisation of TikTok as performing a public service.

Im not convinced that the benefits outweigh the risks that it poses to Americans in its present form, he said.

Several Republican congressmen came armed with montages of problematic TikTok clips, as well as poster displays which aides held up behind them for the cameras.

Republican Gus Bilirakis of Florida, who grilled Mr Chew on his content moderation policies, aired several TikTok videos that encouraged suicide, adding that such videos drove Long Island teen Chase Nasca to take his own life in 2022.

His parents Dean and Michelle Nasca, who were in the audience, sobbed as Mr Bilirakis told Mr Chew that his company had destroyed their lives.

His For You page was sadly a window to discover suicide, said the lawmaker, referring to TikToks feed of algorithmically recommended videos. Its unacceptable, sir!

His party colleague Kat Cammack, also of Florida, showed a video of a gun with a caption threatening the committee with violence, and asked Mr Chew why it had been allowed to remain up for 41 days.

He was not given a chance to respond, though the clip was taken down shortly afterwards. Remote video URL US lawmakers grill TikToks Singaporean CEO Chew Shou Zi. With five minutes each, the lawmakers hurried through their prepared lines of questioning, pressing Mr Chew for yes or no replies and dismissing his caveats on technical questions. He was also repeatedly talked over or dismissed mid-sentence.

You have not given straightforward answers. We do not find you credible on these things, said Republican Neal Dunn of Florida, who said TikTok would censor content on behalf of the Communist Party of China.

Mr Chew replied: Congressman, you have given me no time to answer your questions. I reject the characterisations. More On This Topic TikTok attacked for China ties as US lawmakers push for ban 5 key moments from TikTok CEO S'porean Chew Shou Zis combative hearing in US Congress He was evasive particularly on ByteDances current access to TikToks US user data and repeatedly dodged questions on the Chinese governments treatment of Uighur Muslims, which elicited audible sighs from several lawmakers.

Republican Kelly Armstrong of North Dakota, referring to the Communist Party of China, said: You have absolutely tied yourself in knots to avoid criticising the CCPs treatment of the Uighur population and I think it begs the question if the CCP demanded that ByteDance hand over all the data that they had on US users and ByteDance refused, I wonder what would happen?

Mr Chew at times stressed his Singaporean roots as he tried to distance himself and TikTok from China, recounting in his opening remarks how he had met his wife while studying in America.

He also told Congress that his two children, who live in Singapore, were not on TikTok because the platform is not available there for children under 13 years old. @shou.time

magician for hire, anyone? #metgala2022 #magic ? Perfect – Bellaaa The New York Times wrote that the hearing had been harsher in tone than previous congressional hearings featuring American executives of social media companies, a point that Mr Chew also alluded to throughout his testimony.

When Democrat Darren Soto of Florida said that TikTok should be an American company with American values, Mr Chew hit back a rare instance in the hearing as he argued that American ownership did not guarantee data standards.

With a lot of respect, American social (media) companies do not have a good track record with data privacy and user security. Look at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica, he said, in a jibe at its data misuse scandal.

It is not clear how lawmakers will proceed after the hearing, or how quickly they might pass legislation to strengthen the Biden administrations legal powers to ban TikTok.

Mr Brandon Clark, a member of the public who attended the hearing, told The Straits Times that he found the insistence on yes or no answers harsh, typical American s***.

You just want to get a simplified answer when the response requires a bit more clarity and detail, said Mr Clark, whose gummy company BDE Gummy advertises on TikTok. @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 More On This Topic From Facebook intern to TikTok CEO: Who is S'porean Chew Shou Zi? TikToks CEO grilled in Congress: Whats next for the platform in the US? He said that Mr Chew appeared frustrated, like he was constantly hitting a brick wall with the congressmen.

Its like hes being led into these questions where there is no win, said Mr Clark. Hes scared, but rightfully so. You can have all the money in the world, but this is influence and power. This is regulation, a very different domain.

Musician Greg Spero, one of the dozen or so TikTok content creators in the audience, told ST that Mr Chew and the congressmen appeared to be talking past each other.

In this hearing, it seems that nobody wants to know the benefits of TikTok and whats actually being done, but they want to create a public spectacle, he said.

On the flip side, Mr Spero said, Democrat Jamaal Bowman, a congressman who spoke against a TikTok ban at a Wednesday press conference, focused on the apps upsides without addressing the concerns around it.

I wish I could witness something where people are sitting down and having a discussion that clearly outlines the positives and negatives of what were daling with, Mr Spero said. @straitstimes

ICYMI: Heres what went down during the hearing between TikToks CEO Chew Shou Zi and the US Congress ? #TikTok #TikTokNews #Congress #TikTokCEO #ShouZiChew #ChewShouZi #Wifi #internet #congressionalhearing #TikTokban #tiktokhearing #SGNews ? original sound – The Straits Times – The Straits Times Remote video URL More On This Topic TikTok users protest against proposals for US ban at Congress TikTok caught in US-China battle over its powerful algorithm

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Delay biometric visa checks for 80 Gaza students, dozens of MPs urge UK government

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Delay biometric visa checks for 80 Gaza students, dozens of MPs urge UK government

More than 70 MPs have signed a letter asking the government to delay biometric checks for 80 students from Gaza so they can study in Britain, Sky News can reveal.

Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner are leading the charge, asking Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to defer the requirement, so the students can take up their university places in September.

However, shadow home secretary Chris Philp says the biometric checks should not be deferred, arguing they are “an essential part of our security arrangements”.

Gaza latest: Netanyahu mulls ‘full Gaza takeover’

In order to obtain a UK visa, applicants must provide a photo of their face, as well as their fingerprints. The Home Office guidance says these data points “play a significant role in delivering security and facilitation in the border and immigration system”.

UK visa process for Gazans ‘all but impossible’

In the letter, the MPs raise the case of a Haia Mohamed, who they describe as a “young poet in Gaza”, who has won a scholarship to Goldsmiths College in London.

More on Conservatives

But neither she nor 79 other successful applicants to UK universities are able to travel to the UK because providing the required biometric data is “all but impossible”.

Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner are rallying colleagues to support their efforts. Pics: UK Parliament
Image:
Labour MPs Abtisam Mohamed and Barry Gardiner are rallying colleagues to support their efforts. Pics: UK Parliament

They write: “Even before the war, leaving Gaza to pursue higher education was a complex process. The ongoing siege and restrictions made travel extremely difficult, but in the current state of constant bombardment, shootings at aid sites, and an IPC-declared famine, this process has become all but impossible.”

In an email to MPs asking them to sign the letter, Mohamed and Gardiner are far more blunt, saying: “Unless the government makes rapid progress with offering visas and coordinating evacuations over the next week, students who should be starting university next month in the UK will be among those who are being shot dead at aid sites, bombed in displacement camps, or starving as famine spreads deeper in Gaza.”

The UK did have an authorised centre in Gaza that was able to process biometric data, but it was closed in October 2023 after the 7 October Hamas attack, and as Israel’s war in response to the atrocity got under way, according to The Guardian.

As result, they are asking the home secretary to “defer biometric data screening for student visa applicants based in Gaza and open a safe passage to enable these young people to fulfil their academic dreams”, pointing out that other countries in Europe “have taken proactive steps to ensure safe evacuation routes for students bound for their countries”.

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UK to treat more Gaza children

Students are ‘the future of Palestine’

Speaking to Sky News on Tuesday, one of the writers of the letter, Barry Gardiner MP, pointed out that the government has been able to find a way for injured children from Gaza to receive care in the UK, and exemptions have been made in the past, and so the same should be done in this case, and “quickly” because the academic year starts next month.

The Brent West MP also said that this is about “giving the state of Palestine the possibility of a future”.

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What would a ‘full Gaza occupation’ look like?

“These young people are the future of Palestine. They are the young talent, and it doesn’t matter whether they’re constructing a road network, or a sewage system, or they’re town planners or, as in the case of Haia Mohamed, astonishingly profound poets – the state of Palestine will need everything from classical musicians right the way through to town planners,” he said.

“And these youngsters are coming over here with that full range of study potential, with the express intention of going back and building their nation.”

He added that the fact they have been able to win scholarships to, in many cases, the UK’s top universities “shows extraordinary resilience, extraordinary courage, extraordinary ability, and we should facilitate that”.

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Gaza airdrops: ‘No-one has mercy’

Checks ‘essential part of security arrangements’

But Conservative MP and shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Sky News in a statement: “We should not be deferring biometric checks. These are an essential part of our security arrangements, and they should not be waived or delayed until arrival in the UK – by which time it is too late.”

Earlier this month, a student from Gaza reportedly left France after being ordered to leave following the discovery of alleged antisemitic social media posts. Her lawyer said she “firmly denies the accusations made against her”, according to France24.

Mr Gardiner told Sky News: “Anyone who breaks the law in that way must be dealt with as the law requires. But what you don’t do is you don’t say, ‘somebody might break the law, so we’re not going to allow anybody to come’.”

Read more:
More children from Gaza to be brought to UK for medical treatment
Netanyahu to instruct Israeli military on next steps in Gaza
Analysis: Full Israeli occupation of Gaza could massively backfire

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The UK requires that biometric data be submitted in advance of the visa being approved in order to:

• Establish a person’s identity by joining the applicant’s biographical data with their biometric data;
• Verify an individual “accurately against an established identity”;
• Check they are not on a watchlist, for example, to ensure they are eligible to come to the UK.

Exemptions from the requirement to provide biometric data have been given in rare circumstances. It was waived for Ukrainians fleeing to the UK following Russia’s invasion in January 2022.

However, it was not waived for Afghans fleeing the Taliban in August 2021. But a judge later ruled that a family in hiding in the country did not have to provide the data in order to join British family members in the UK, which was thought to also apply to around 100 other families.

The Home Office and Foreign Office have been contacted for comment.

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Environment

California greenlights $56.5M to amp up apartment EV chargers

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California greenlights .5M to amp up apartment EV chargers

If you live in or develop apartments in California, there’s fresh cash on the table to get Level 2 EV chargers installed. The Communities in Charge project, backed by the California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Program, just opened a new funding lane worth up to $56.5 million for multi-family housing and nearby spots where tenants can plug in.

How it works

  • Who can apply? California property owners or stakeholders ready to install Level 2 chargers at multi-family and adjacent tenant-accessible sites.
  • When? Applications opened today at 9 am PT and run through January 9, 2026, at 5 pm PT.
  • What’s covered? Up to $8,500 per Level 2 port. Starting in October, the program will also kick in $2,000 per publicly accessible Level 1 port.  Extra “plus-ups” are available for Tribal communities.
  • Equity first: An equity-based scoring system bumps projects that serve disadvantaged, low-income, and Tribal areas to the front of the line.

The project is run by CALSTART (with GRID Alternatives and Tetra Tech riding shotgun). CALSTART already oversees more than $1 billion in national clean-transportation incentives.

“This funding wave marks a critical step in making electric vehicle charging accessible to more Californians, no matter the type of housing,” said Stacey Simms, CALSTART’s senior director of clean fuels and infrastructure. “By dedicating funding to this housing sector, we’re ensuring that infrastructure barriers are broken down so that multi-family housing residents can go electric at home.”

What happens after you click ‘submit’

Applications roll in through the Incentive Processing Center and get reviewed as they arrive:

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  • Readiness Tier 1 (projects that can basically start tomorrow) snag an immediate “Notice of Final Award.”
  • Readiness Tier 2 candidates get a “Notice of Conditional Award” and 90 days to hand in extra paperwork before they secure their final green light.

Read more: California now has nearly 50% more EV chargers than gas nozzles


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Technology

Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

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Super Micro shares plunge 15% on weak results, disappointing guidance

Charles Liang, CEO of Super Micro, speaks at the Computex conference in Taipei, Taiwan, on June 1, 2023.

Walid Berrazeg | Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Super Micro Computer shares slid 15% in extended trading on Tuesday after the server maker reported disappointing fiscal fourth-quarter results and issued weak quarterly earnings guidance.

Here’s how the company did in comparison with LSEG consensus:

  • Earnings per share: 41 cents adjusted vs. 44 cents expected
  • Revenue: $5.76 billion vs. $5.89 billion expected

Super Micro’s revenue increased 7.5% during the quarter, which ended on June 30, according to a statement.

For the current quarter, Super Micro called for 40 cents to 52 cents in adjusted earnings per share on $6 billion to $7 billion in revenue for the fiscal first quarter. Analysts surveyed by LSEG were looking for 59 cents per share and $6.6 billion in revenue.

For the 2026 fiscal year, Super Micro sees at least $33 billion in revenue, above the LSEG consensus of $29.94 billion.

Super Micro saw surging demand starting in 2023 for its data center servers packed with Nvidia for handling artificial intelligence models and workloads. Growth has since slowed.

The company avoided being delisted from the Nasdaq after falling behind on quarterly financial filings and seeing the departure of its auditor.

As of Tuesday’s close, Super Micro shares were up around 88% so far in 2025, while the S&P 500 index has gained 7%.

Executives will discuss the results on a conference call starting at 5 p.m. ET.

WATCH: We have a runaway bull market right now, says Jim Cramer

We have a runaway bull market right now, says Jim Cramer

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