Trending Chinese social media app Tik Tok is said to be opening its doors for a new chief executive officer. To qualify, Tik Tok said the new CEO must be based in the United States.
Tik Tok expects the hiring to help ease growing worries over how its connections to the Chinese government have posed threats to national security.
Based on a report by Bloomberg, Tik Tok has already interviewed candidates in recent months to fill its top executive post.
The US-based top boss would work alongside Alex Zhu, Tik Tok's China-based chief, and Vanessa Pappas, who is currently in charge of Tik Tok's US operations from his Los Angeles office.
Details of how the new CEO will carry on with his functions have yet to be released, but Bloomberg disclosed the US-based top honcho could be tasked to oversee the app's "non-technical" mechanisms.
Tik Tok's origins are integrated in China, where its mother company - ByteDance - operates. These links to China have given Tik Tok enormous scrutiny from US regulators, who are not comfortable over the risks Tik Tok poses to user privacy, including its influence over content censorship.
The Chinese tech giant's hunt for a US-based CEO may be Tik Tok's latest ploy to allay growing fears from US lawmakers. Tik Tok has been reportedly planning to open a new office outside of Chinese soil to keep itself away from Chinese regulators.
Tik Tok's massive appeal of late has been well-recorded: the app, which allows users to make and share short viral video clips, has over 1.5 billion downloads worldwide.
The Chinese app's wild popularity has since outperformed social media rivals like Snapchat and Instagram. It has become a stepping stone of sorts for viral online memes and funny videos, making it the most preferred app by the so-called Generation Z.
US lawmakers have put increased pressure on the Chinese app during the past months, in response to what the government considers as national security concerns.
The US government launched a national security probe in November last year to dig into the link between the app and the Chinese government, prompting the US army to prohibit its personnel from using the app on government-issued mobile devices.
Zhu had planned to meet with US lawmakers in December to discuss these issues, but the meetings did not push through. Nevertheless, Tik Tok has consistently defended itself by claiming that none of its moderators are headquartered in China, and that no "foreign government" requires the app to censor content.
