NEW YORK—TikTok’s Chief Operating Officer, V Pappas, is leaving the social media platform after nearly five years at the company.
In a note sent to employees Thursday morning and later shared on Twitter, Pappas said she felt it was the right time to move on and focus on “entrepreneurial passions.”
TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew said in a note sent to employees that Pappas, one of the company’s most public faces, will continue to serve as a strategic adviser.
Pappas joined TikTok in 2018 as general manager and was promoted to interim head in 2020 when then-CEO Kevin Mayer left the company just after three months in the role.
The former YouTube official assumed the COO role the following year, and has testified on Capitol Hill and appeared in media interviews offering a full-throated defense of the company, which has been under scrutiny by lawmakers concerned about its Chinese origins.
For years, TikTok has been fending off allegations that its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, would share user data from its popular video-sharing app with the Chinese government, or push propaganda and misinformation on its behalf.
TikTok is under pressure to be banned nationwide to prevent Americans from being monitored by the Chinese regime.
The company is currently negotiating its data privacy plans with the Biden administration, which, earlier this year, threatened to ban it nationwide if its Chinese owners don’t sell their stakes.
TikTok maintains its never been asked by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to share U.S. user data, and it wouldn’t do so if asked.
FBI Director Christopher Wray in December 2022 warned of possible threats TikTok poses to U.S. national security, saying the CCP has the ability to leverage the app to manipulate content and carry out “influence operations” and espionage operations on Americans.
Peter Hish, a sergeant with the Los Angeles County’s Sheriff Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau, recently told The Epoch Times that the content hidden in TikTok’s terms of use and privacy policy is very concerning, that users who install the app voluntarily reveal everything about themselves and the information of those around them.
TikTok’s privacy policy says, “TikTok may transmit your data to its servers or data centers outside of the United States for storage and/or processing.”
“Another thing about TikTok, who controls TikTok? The Chinese Communist Party controls TikTok. So where’s all your data going? The CCP. You want the CCP having knowing everything that you do? I don’t,” Hish told The Epoch Times.
In his email to employees, Chew also announced an organizational shakeup at the company.
Zenia Mucha, who served nearly two decades as a communications executive at Disney, will join TikTok as the chief brand and communications officer, overseeing the company’s marketing and public relations arm.
Chew said TikTok’s Chief of Staff Adam Presser will become the company’s head of operations.
Epoch Times staff contributed to this report.
