TikTok owner ByteDance stays hands-off as video app faces US ban, leaving local team to become more aggressive

  • Beijing-based ByteDance has left the US TikTok team to lead its own response in countering legislation that would kick it out of domestic app stores, sources say
  • ByteDance was directly involved in US efforts to ban the app four years ago, but the app has been more aggressive in rallying users this time around

Coco Fengin BeijingandZhou Xinin Hong Kong
TikTok’s response to US attempts to ban the app have grown more aggressive as it tries to mobilise opposition to new legislation. Photo: Reuters
The Chinese parent of TikTok has kept a safe distance from the troubles facing its short video app in the US, leaving the response to the local team and Singaporean CEO Chew Shou Zi as they face a possible legal battle against a forced sale or a ban, according to people briefed on the matter.
ByteDance’s strategy is markedly different from four years ago, when then-US president Donald Trump attempted to force a sale of TikTok to American investors. The Beijing-based firm got directly involved after its recently hired COO and TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer – who had been poached from The Walt Disney Company – quit after just three months.
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