TikTok hunts for new policy boss amid fight over Labor’s social media ban
The short form video platform has canvassed prospective candidates to lead its local policy operation in Australia, as part of a wider reshuffle of its local leadership team.
Global short-form video platform TikTok has initiated a search for a new public policy boss as part of leadership changes made in the face of a public fight with the Australian government over new social media age restrictions.
The ByteDance-owned video platform, which has more than 8.5 million users in Australia, has canvassed prospective candidates to lead its local policy operation, according to people briefed on the search, not authorised to speak publicly about it.
The appointment could be made just months before Labor’s proposed social media age restrictions take effect in December, and would come on the heels of a string of senior leadership changes to the platform’s local operation.
Ella Woods-Joyce, a former Tasmanian Liberal Party staffer who has for the last two years served as TikTok’s director of public policy in Australia, has taken on a new public policy role focussed on content and safety. She has worked at the company for about five years.
