TikTok’s U.S. public policy chief, Michael Beckerman, a key figure in its fight against a U.S. government ban, plans to leave his Washington-based role and transition to a global advisory position, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a staff memo.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump extended the deadline for the sale of ByteDance’s U.S. assets of the short video app for 75 days.
Beckerman has been working as the US Public Policy Chief of TikTok since 2020, according to his LinkedIn profile. He is reportedly leaving Washington and may take up a new advisory role in TikTok’s global operations.
Beckerman has constantly defended TikTok against regulatory pressures and measures to ban it in recent years. He has been present during congressional hearings, where TikTok justified allegations on data protection policies and links to China.
This development comes after US President Donald Trump on April 4 extended the deadline for TikTok to find a non-Chinese buyer by 75 days or face a ban in the United States. He claimed China was holding back on approval of the sale deal of TikTok as a response to the tariffs.
“The report is that we had a deal, pretty much for TikTok, not a deal, but pretty close, and then China changed the deal because of tariffs. If I gave a little cut in tariffs, they’d approve that deal in 15 minutes, which shows you the power of tariffs,” Trump told reporters.
ByteDance-owned TikTok is a popular video-sharing platform with more than 170 million users in the United States.
In 2024, Congress passed a divest-or-ban legislation for TikTok that received bipartisan support and was signed by former President Joe Biden. The United States has consistently expressed concerns over Chinese ownership of TikTok, threatening the national security of the world’s largest economy.
TikTok was banned on January 19 for 12 hours from Saturday evening until early Sunday morning following the federal order. This ban was revoked after President Trump signed an executive order, extending the ban for 75 days.
