TicTok CEO resigns amid U.S. national security concerns, pressure on Chinese owner to sell

TikTok CEO Kevin Mayer resigned Thursday amid the Trump administration's efforts to ban the popular video app in the U.S. because of national security concerns.

“I have done significant reflection on what the corporate structural changes will require, and what it means for the global role I signed up for,” he said in the letter, obtained by the Associated Press. “Against this backdrop, and as we expect to reach a resolution very soon, it is with a heavy heart that I wanted to let you all know that I have decided to leave the company.”

President Trump earlier this month ordered the ban on TikTok unless its parent company, ByteDance, sells its U.S. operations to an American company within 90 days.

Bytedance is now in negotiations for the U.S. firm Microsoft for the U.S. firm to buy TikTok’s U.S. operations, following administration’s concerns that the app is gathering personal data from American users. 

The China company has also raised concerns about its potential censorship of videos, including those critical of the Chinese government, the wire service also reports.