TikTok Chief Operating Officer, V. Pappas, is stepping down from their position after a five-year tenure with the short-video company owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. This information was revealed in an email on Thursday. Pappas stated in the email to staff that they would be transitioning into an advisory role during this period.
Pappas explained, “Given all the successes reached at TikTok, I finally feel the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions.” It’s worth noting that Pappas prefers to use the pronoun “they.”
In addition to this announcement, ByteDance’s Chief Executive, Shou Chew, shared a memo with employees stating that Zenia Mucha, a former 20-year veteran at Walt Disney, will be joining TikTok as the chief brand and communications officer.
As part of the restructuring, Adam Presser, currently TikTok’s chief of staff, will take over as the head of operations. In this role, Presser will be responsible for overseeing content, user operations, and distribution, according to Chew.
TikTok has faced scrutiny globally due to concerns over security, primarily because of its Chinese ownership. Recently, U.S. lawmakers introduced new legislation aimed at protecting Americans’ user data from being exploited by U.S. adversaries.
Furthermore, TikTok filed a lawsuit against Montana after it became the first state to ban the app state-wide, adding to the ongoing challenges faced by the company.
