Chinese internet-technology company ByteDance on Thursday said it is moving fast to address issues related to its video-sharing platform TikTok’s ban in India and the US, amidst reports of its CEO Kevin Mayer resigning due to “changes in the political environment”. Mayer has resigned in just four months of becoming the chief executive officer of the Chinese video-sharing application.
He was prompted by a series of changes in the company’s structure “as a result of the (US President Donald) Trump administration’s action to push for a sell-off to the U.S,” according to a letter from Mayer to TikTok employees on Thursday, state-run CGTN-TV reported.
“I have decided to leave the company,” Mayer said, explaining that “as the political environment has sharply changed, I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will (be) require… and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon.”
In reply to Mayer’s letter, Chairman of ByteDance Zhang Yiming said, “I fully understand the resulting outcome that we land upon due to the political circumstances… (it) could have a significant impact on his job in any scenario, but particularly given his global role while he’s based in the US.”
Zhang said the company is moving quickly to find resolutions to the issues it faces globally, particularly in the US and India.
“I can assure you that we are developing solutions that will be in the interest of users, creators, partners, and employees,” he said. Bytedance is in talks with technology giant Microsoft to buy its US operations.
India has banned 106 applications with Chinese links, including TikTok and UC Browser, in June, saying they were prejudicial to sovereignty, integrity and security of the country.
US President Donald Trump on August 6 had issued an executive order banning American transactions with ByteDance. A week later, Trump signed another executive order, extending the deal time to 90 days.
TikTok filed a lawsuit on Monday against the executive order.
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