China

China’s ByteDance to Add Four Directors to Board – SCMP

China's ByteDance, parent firm of short video app TikTok, will increase its board directors to nine with four new members. File photo by Reuters.

China’s ByteDance, the parent company of the short-video app TikTok, will bolster the size of its board to nine by adding four new directors, The South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

The move comes at a time when the Beijing-based company faces regulatory pressure in the US, Britain and other nations because of TikTok’s notorious “data harvesting”.

Cybersecurity firms and government officials in the West have long warned that the group collects “excessive amounts of information from users”.

The five-strong board includes its new chief executive, Liang Rubo, who took over as chairman from founder and former chief executive Zhang Yiming, while the other directors are representatives of General Atlantic, Sequoia Capital, Coatue Management and Susquehanna International Group, Reuters said in a separate report.

It was reported this week that TikTok could face a fine of $29 million in Britain after an investigation showed it may have breached data protection laws regarding the privacy of children.

And to assuage US regulatory concerns over data integrity, TikTok is also nearing a deal for Oracle Corp to store its US users’ information without access by Chinese parent ByteDance.

The proposal on new board members won shareholder approval on Tuesday, the SCMP report said.

Read the full report: The South China Morning Post.

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Alfie Habershon

Alfie is a Reporter at Asia Financial. He previously lived in Mumbai reporting on India's economy and healthcare for data journalism initiative IndiaSpend, as well as having worked for London based Tortoise Media.