I most certainly will.
I'll begin my statement, sir, by welcoming the members from TikTok for having the courtesy and the integrity to show up before this committee. It's a very important discussion. I would suggest that the targeting of one particular company and its geopolitical relationships is troubling for me and is part of a continuing trend of what I would call “red-baiting”, but we'll allow you to answer in this next series of questions.
In reference to the last interventions regarding the French Senate commission of inquiry into the use of the TikTok social media network and the use of the data and strategy to influence, it released the conclusions of its report. They were just referenced. I want to make it crystal clear that while you're here—and certainly we haven't made you swear in officially on oath—I'm going to take you at your word that you understand the quasi-judicial nature of this committee and the seriousness of this study.
One of the conclusions included its finding that the Communist Party and the Chinese intelligence agencies could potentially have access to data collected on TikTok on its users around the world, despite constant efforts to conceal those facts. I want you to provide us with a concise and clear response to that allegation, because it seems to be at the crux of the matter here.