Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-N.Y.) made this accusation, saying, “TikTok is essentially operating Communist Chinese malware.” TikTok denies that the Chinese Communist Party owns any portion of ByteDance. Sixty percent of ByteDance, TikTok says, is owned by international investors, including Americans. Another 20 percent is owned by TikTok employees, including 7,000 Americans, and the final 20 percent is owned by the company’s founder. ByteDance has a five-person board of directors; three of those seats are held by Americans. ByteDance is not publicly traded, but is by some measures the world’s largest social media company. In addition to TikTok itself, ByteDance owns a range of other apps in the United States, including a Pinterest competitor called Lemon8 and CapCut, a wildly popular video editing platform.
