TikTok’s CEO Navigates the Limits of His Power

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Credit...Philip Fong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Shou Zi Chew, TikTok’s chief executive, is balancing how to be an autonomous leader while juggling the demands of the app’s Chinese parent company.

Shou Zi Chew, a longtime investor and former executive at Xiaomi, was appointed chief executive of TikTok in May 2021.Credit...Philip Fong/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Ryan Mac and Chang Che

Ryan Mac reports on technology from Los Angeles, and Chang Che from Seoul.

• Sept. 16, 2022

TikTok recently tried to tamp down concerns from U.S. lawmakers that it poses a national security threat because it is owned by the Chinese internet company ByteDance. The viral video app insisted it had an arm’s-length relationship with ByteDance and that its own executive was in charge.

“TikTok is led by its own global C.E.O., Shou Zi Chew, a Singaporean based in Singapore,” TikTok wrote in a June letter to U.S. lawmakers.

But in fact, Mr. Chew’s decision-making power over TikTok is limited, according to 12 former TikTok and ByteDance employees and executives.

Decisions about the service — including moves to emphasize livestreaming and shopping on TikTok — are made by Zhang Yiming, ByteDance’s founder, as well as by a top ByteDance strategy executive and the head of TikTok’s research and development team, said the people, who declined to be identified for fear of reprisals. TikTok’s growth and strategy, which are led by ByteDance teams, report not to Mr. Chew but to ByteDance’s office in Beijing, they said.

The arrangements illustrate the tightrope that Mr. Chew, 39, walks as the head of one of the world’s most popular social apps. Since being appointed TikTok’s chief executive in May 2021, he has had to navigate presenting himself to the West as the autonomous leader of a global service while fulfilling the demands of the app’s Chinese parent.

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Credit...ChinaTopix, via Associated Press

Mr. Chew faces mounting challenges. As TikTok has stormed its way onto people’s smartphones and accrued an estimated 1.6 billion monthly active users, its ByteDance ties have raised concerns that it may be siphoning off people’s data to Chinese authorities. In recent months, U.S. lawmakers and regulators have increasingly questioned TikTok’s data practices, reigniting a debate over how the United States should treat business relationships with foreign companies.

On Wednesday, TikTok’s chief operating officer testified in Congress and downplayed the app’s China connections. On Thursday, President Biden signed an executive order to sharpen the federal government’s powers to block Chinese investment in tech in the United States and to limit its access to private data on citizens.

In an email, TikTok said Mr. Chew was ultimately responsible for the app’s product and strategy decisions. ByteDance said he was familiar with the company’s business.

Little is known abo...