With social media on the rise, parents and lawmakers have grown increasingly concerned over the effect which social media has on the young generation—and rightly so.

Last Wednesday (January 31) saw countless parents coming together for the Senate hearing at Capitol Hill on big tech and the online child exploitation crisis. The hearing saw chief executive officers of social media companies, including TikTok’s Chew Shou Zi, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the safety of online platforms. This was Chew’s second time on Capitol Hill, with the first hearing being held in March 2023 on data privacy. Alongside Chew was Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg; Snap’s Evan Spiegel; X’s Linda Yaccarino; and Discord’s Jason Citron. 

The hours-long hearing saw senators grilling tech leaders on pressing matters, including their commitment to child safety and their support of legislations which address it. The tense hearing had gotten momentarily dragged off course when US Senator Tom Cotton began repeatedly asking Chew about his ties with China.  

Throughout the hearing, Cotton fired off multiple questions regarding Chew’s citizenship, passport and if he has ever been a member of the Chinese communist party. Chew, who’s no stranger to these proddings repeatedly shut down the line of questioning, telling the conservative senator that he’s Singaporean. 

Apart from the intense grill session regarding his citizenship, the hearing saw Chew sharing thoughts about the safety and protection of the younger generation on social media. Below, we share some quotes from Chew at the congressional hearing.

Read more: 5 highlights from TikTok CEO Chew Shou Zi’s Ted Talk interview