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

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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

Coco Fengin BeijingandZhou Xinin Hong Kong

Published: 9:00pm, 5 Apr 2024

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.

This time things are different. TikTok’s US team, under the guidance of Chew, is more weathered and resourceful. Its pushback against a bill seeking to kick the popular app off Apple’s and Google’s app stores has been much more aggressive.

ByteDance has almost entirely delegated the job of dealing with American political pressure to the US TikTok team, according to one source close to the matter. In recent weeks, ByteDance’s only response to the saga was a brief denial of a Wall Street Journal report that company co-founder Zhang Yiming had discussed a sale of TikTok to potential buyers.

Neither ByteDance nor TikTok responded to requests for comment on Friday.

TikTok has made a big effort to highlight its relevance to US users and merchants. It started running television ads this week, promoting the hashtag #KeepTikTok, in multiple states including Pennsylvania, Nevada and Ohio. The campaign involves a diverse group of TikTok influencers and merchants who discuss the importance of the app.

The move comes weeks after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a new bill that seeks to force ByteDance to divest TikTok – described as a “foreign adversary controlled application” – for the app to continue normal operations. TikTok has also spent more than US$100,000 on Facebook and Instagram ads in opposition to the bill, The New York Times reported, citing Meta Platforms’ Ad Library.

External ads are just the latest front in a battle that started last month in the TikTok app itself, where the company sent push notifications to users urging them to call their congressional representatives to tell them to vote against the bill.