I'd Like To Direct Your Attention To The Screen

Part of a series on TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew Congressional Testimony / March 2023 U.S. TikTok Ban Hearing. [View Related Entries]

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About

I'd Like To Direct Your Attention To The Screen refers to a phrase said by Congresswoman Kat Cammack during TikTok CEO Shou Zi Che's Congressional testimony. Cammack’s questioning became a catchphrase meme on TikTok in which users duet the congresswoman’s clip as an opener for all sorts of content.

Origin

On March 23rd, 2023, the House Energy and Commerce Committee conducted a hearing with TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew, focused on the platform’s data security practices. One of the authorities to question the CEO was Florida Representative Kat Cammack, who inquired about the platform's perceived threat to Americans and decided to show an example of a TikTok that would contradict the platform’s stance against enabling violence. Before showing the video, she said, "Mr.Shou, I'd like to direct your attention to the screen,” as seen in the video below. The full testimony was uploaded on the ABC News YouTube^[1] channel on the same day, receiving 350,000 views and 3,400 likes in a day.

Spread

The Congresswoman's quote quickly became a viral catchphrase meme, being used in ironic content about TikTok’s CEO's hearing. For instance, TikTok^[2] user @perfectly_g used the viral clip to edit a video of himself doing the dance for the song “Dick” by Doja Cat featuring StarBoi3. The video (seen below) garnered 138,000 plays and 17,000 likes in eight hours. Another example, posted by TikTok^[3] account @jeffsvinylrecords on March 24th, uses the clip to comment on Taylor Swift’s the Eras Tour performance. The post garnered 294 plays and 30 likes in a few hours.

@perfectly_g #CapCut Atrocity. Abomination. Still my most-viewed TikTok almost two years later 🫣😂 #foryou #formerclergy #rip ♬ original sound – You can call me G

The phrase is also a trending topic on Twitter,^[4] with posts like the one posted by @2irl4u, who used the testimony clip edited with a video of a guy dancing in the bathroom. The post (seen below) received 44,800 views and 725 likes in a day.