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 % of ByteDance, TikTok says, is owned by worldwide buyers, together with Americans. Another 20 % is owned by TikTok workers, together with 7,000 Americans, and the ultimate 20 % is owned by the corporate’s founder. ByteDance has a five-person board of administrators; three of these seats are held by Americans. ByteDance just isn’t publicly traded, however is by some measures the world’s largest social media firm. In addition to TikTok itself, ByteDance owns a spread of different apps within the United States, together with a Pinterest competitor referred to as Lemon8 and CapCut, a wildly in style video enhancing platform.