TikTok's COO Vanessa Pappas Is Stepping Down After 5 Years At The Company

In an email to TikTok staffers, Pappas mentioned they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition.

Pappas mentioned they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition. ( Image Source :V Pappas/LinkedIn )

TikTok’s chief operating officer (COO) Vanessa Pappas is stepping down from their role after five years at the ByteDance-owned short-video platform. The video-sharing company confirmed the key executive's departure, the media has reported. According to a report by The Hill, TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew has announced Pappas’s departure from TikTok, in a company memo. Pappas will now pursue “entrepreneurial passions".

In an email to TikTok staffers, Pappas mentioned they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition, according to news agency Reuters.

It should be noted that Pappas was the short-video platform's most senior executive in the United States and was interim chief before the hiring of the current chief, Shou Zi Chew. As per an report in The New York Times from 2020, Pappas took over TikTok at the "toughest time".

This Is What Pappas Wrote In A Memo To TikTok Staff

Pappas wrote a memo to the employees that read: "Five years ago when I was first approached by TikTok, I was incredibly inspired by the product vision to be a new mobile-first video experience that serves as a canvas, bridge and window for everyone. The pitch was to take on a role to transform and grow the product and broaden its appeal through developing diverse communities and content. I was sold."

"I took a gamble on what was then a completely unknown company and product and followed my intuition, really my passion, to build a place for people to come together around shared moments of joy and creativity, and to foster a place that is inclusive and open to all. Five years later, we have grown to a global team of thousands of people and I believe we have achieved our goal to innovate and define an entirely new experience for people to share, create, and be entertained. Today I stand proud that we deliver a product that resonates with over one billion people around the world. Tik Tok is now a household name. My north star throughout it all was to uphold what I refer to as "the last sunny spot on the internet," to build a platform for positive expression that celebrates diverse voices."

Meanwhile, earlier last month, TikTok took legal action to prevent the US state of Montana from implementing a ban on its social media platform. The Chinese-owned video-sharing app argued that the ban infringes upon free speech rights in the US. TikTok has faced increased scrutiny from authorities worldwide due to concerns over data privacy and the potential sharing of user information with the Chinese government. The platform was banned in India in 2020 along with dozens of other Chinese apps.