TikTok appoints new CEO as former Disney princess

TikTok is one of the most impressive social interaction application platforms in the world today, maybe even threatening the throne of Facebook. However, the ByteDance leadership set a bigger ambition and decided to 'replace generals' for TikTok.

The one chosen to send the gold is not a strange name in the US entertainment industry: Kevin Mayer, former Disney executive, 'chief architect' of the Disney + project. With this move, Alex Zhu, current president of TikTok, will move on to take on the role of vice president of products & strategy of ByteDance.

Strategic planning and talent for leadership are the factors that make Kevin Mayer considered a princess of Disney. In addition to launching the Disney + service platform, Kevin Mayer himself is the author of ESPN +, and is a key player in the acquisition of 21st Century Fox that shocked the entertainment industry in the world. It can be said that the appearance of Kevin Mayer at TikTok will be a factor to ensure the positive development and innovation of this platform in the future.

As the CEO of TikTok, Kevin Mayer will be the one to directly propose the plan to continue maintaining and further speeding up the development of the application, turning it into a global community where the gathering of talented content creators, users love diverse content and especially brands that want to reach and interact with users effectively.

'I was really excited to have the opportunity to join the great team at ByteDance. Like many others, I was impressed to see the miraculous growth of TikTok - a global, positive, creative online community. And I am also very happy to be the leader of the next strong development phase of this journey, further expanding TikTok's scale and influence in the world of technology. '

- Kevin Mayer

TikTok has been and is becoming popular around the world. However, this platform is also a 'magnet' that attracts controversy, especially for Western countries. Last year, the US Navy banned all employees and soldiers from using TikTok because they believed the app could be a cyber security threat. In February, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said TikTok was spyware.

Last year, the U.S. government launched a national security investigation against TikTok to look into concerns about personal data collection and censorship of sensitive political-related content. Earlier this year, Republican Senator Josh Howly wanted the app to be banned on federal employees' devices. Last week, 20 campaign groups in the United States accused TikTok of violating child privacy rules.

In this uncertain situation, having an American CEO will greatly benefit Bytedance's international image in general and TikTok in particular. Given the popularity of TikTok, the growth may not be a worrying factor for the new CEO. However, Kevin Mayer will face an equally difficult task, which is to help the platform operate comfortably in the US and in difficult markets like India.