Plagued by criticisms about censorship and data security, TikTok’s owner is attempting to shed its Chinese origins.
View of the new logo of ByteDance at the headquarters of Beijing ByteDance Technology Co, owner of Chinese personalized news aggregator Jinri Toutiao and short video platform TikTok, in Beijing, China, 6 August 2018. Credit: Imaginechina via AP Images
Bytedance, one of the world’s most valuable start-ups and owner of the short-form video app TikTok, has taken dramatic steps in recent months to establish itself as a credible global company.In mid May, the Chinese company named Kevin Mayer, the head of Disney’s streaming business, to fill dual roles, serving as TikTok’s chief executive and Bytedance’s chief operating officer. In recent months, the company has gone on a hiring spree to strengthen its overseas business, and has promised to limit access to overseas data for Chinese employees.
Analysts say that at a time of rising U.S.-China tensions, Bytedance appears to be moving to separate its Chinese operations from TikTok, which is increasingly popular in the U.S.
“I have yet to be convinced that there is a substantial and significant separation between TikTok and Bytedance headquarters in Beijing,” said Fergus Ryan, an analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a Canberra-based think tank.&n
Exclusive longform investigative journalism, Q&As, news and analysis, and data on Chinese business elites and corporations. We publish China scoops you won't find anywhere else.
A weekly curated reading list on China from David Barboza, Pulitzer Prize-winning former Shanghai correspondent for The New York Times.
A daily roundup of China finance, business and economics headlines.
We offer discounts for groups, institutions and students. Go to our Subscriptions page for details.
With its new outbound investment rule, the U.S. is hoping to stop American capital from facilitating China's technological rise. But will the restrictions undermine the global competitiveness of American industry in the process?
The Trump administration's U.S. trade representative explains why he thinks the U.S. got the raw end of economic ties with China, what he thinks of the Biden administration's approach and why the U.S. shouldn't do...
The Global Intelligence Platform used by The Wire China
