TikTok COO Vanessa Pappas resigns after five years at the social network

TikTok Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vanessa Pappas resigned from her position at the social network on Thursday. The executive said in a statement she posted on Twitter that, after five years at the social network owned by ByteDance, she felt "the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions."

The executive, who identifies as non-binary, said she would temporarily stay with the company as a consultant and then leave to focus on other career opportunities.

Pappas' resignation is part of TikTok's ongoing restructuring. These changes also led the company to hire Zenia Mucha as brand and communications director. Mucha, who worked for 20 years as a spokesperson for the Walt Disney Company, will be responsible for the social network's global marketing and communications strategies.

This is not the first time Mucha has worked with TikTok. The new brand and communications director worked earlier this year with the social network and was in charge of prepping TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before he appeared before the House of Representatives in March.

The social network continues to be a topic of debate in the country. Many states banned the platform on government devices and the Federal Administration threatened to ban TikTok after receiving reports that the app may be providing American user information to the Chinese government.