TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer Quits in Less Than 3 Months as Privacy, Global Tensions Intensify

The logo of the much-controversial TikTok app is seen on a smartphone, against the backdrop of the national flag of the United States of America. (Image: Reuters)

TikTok’s erstwhile CEO Kevin Mayer had joined in what Bytedance founder Zhang Yiming has described as “our most challenging moment”, and quits TikTok at a crucial point in its international standing.

• News18.com
• Last Updated: August 27, 2020, 1:05 PM IST
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TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer has quit after less than three months of joining the Bytedance-owned short video app. The TikTok CEO quits after an increasingly difficult period for the service, which was banned from India and faces a similar future in USA as well – two of its biggest markets globally. TikTok’s US General Manager, Vanessa Pappas, is slated to replace Mayer on an interim basis ahead of deciding the app’s future, according to a Reuters report.

The development comes days after TikTok sued the Donald Trump-led US government, over an executive order banning transactions in the United States with the popular short-form video-sharing app. Trump previously set a deadline of September 15 for resolving TikTok’s future in USA, within which time the service is expected to offer a resolution to privacy and security allegations with reference to its ties to China. A potential sale of its US business to an American company then surfaced, with Microsoft emerging as frontrunners to buy it out. However, TikTok has since alleged that it has taken “extraordinary measures” to address the security concerns highlighted by the US government, but has eventually left with “no choice” but to sue the US government for its actions.

Mayer, now the ex-CEO of TikTok, led Walt Disney Co before joining the Bytedance platform on June 1. He was also appointed as CEO of TikTok’s Chinese parent, ByteDance, at the time. In a letter announcing his departure, Mayer reportedly said, “In recent weeks, as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the�corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for. Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.â€

According to a Reuters report, TikTok confirmed the departure and said that the political dynamics of the last few months had “significantly changed†the scope of Mayer’s role. ByteDance founder and CEO, Zhang Yiming, said in a separate letter that the company was “moving quickly to find resolutions to the issues that we face globally, particularly in the U.S. and India.â€

He said Mayer had joined the firm just as it was “entering arguably our most challenging moment.†He further added, “It is never easy to come into a leadership position in a company moving as quickly as we are, and the circumstances following his arrival made it all the more complex.â€

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