TikTok operating chief Vanessa Pappas to step down after five years

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TikTok’s chief operating officer Vanessa Pappas has stepped down after five years as one of its highest-profile US executives, dealing a blow to the social media platform as it faces mounting regulatory scrutiny.

According to an internal memo on Thursday, seen by the Financial Times, TikTok’s chief executive Shou Zi Chew told staff that Pappas had “decided to step down to refocus on their entrepreneurial passions”.

He added that Adam Presser, TikTok’s current chief of staff, would take over the role, while Zenia Mucha, a 20-year veteran of Disney, would join the short-form video app in a newly formed role of chief brand and communications officer.

“Throughout their time at TikTok, they have been instrumental in growing the business, advocating for the company, elevating our product offerings and marketing campaigns, and fostering a positive community of creators and users,” he said of Pappas.

During a five-year tenure, Pappas oversaw TikTok’s explosion in popularity in the west during entertainment-starved coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. Pappas was also a public defender of the ByteDance-owned company as it increasingly became a flashpoint in rising tensions between China and the US over national security fears, given its ownership in Beijing.

Last autumn, Pappas faced bruising questioning from both sides of the political spectrum in Congress over whether the app shared data on its 150mn US users with the Chinese Communist party, allegations they and the company denied.

TikTok has also sought to distance itself from its parent company by spending more than $1.5bn on “Project Texas”, a corporate restructuring plan to safeguard user data and content from Chinese influence.

However, on Thursday, US senators made public a statement from TikTok in which it appeared to acknowledge that certain data belonging to US content creators may be stored in China. It said it had not misled members of Congress by denying that personal user information was stored in China.

“We were asked about, and our testimony focused on, the protected user data collected in the app — not creator data,” it said.

Washington has this year demanded TikTok divest from its Chinese parent or face a federal ban. It is unclear how the White House will proceed. Meanwhile, last month, Montana signed a bill into law banning TikTok in the state, which is being challenged in court.