TikTok is one of the tech companies that could be most impacted by the outcome of the US elections. But as the election result looms, employees there

TikTok Employees Shrug Off the US Election

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2024-11-06 19:00:07

TikTok is one of the tech companies that could be most impacted by the outcome of the US elections. But as the election result looms, employees there found themselves surprisingly disengaged from the high-level political drama that could decide the app’s fate.

A San Jose-based product manager, who requested anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media, says he was more worried about the TikTok ban before he joined the company earlier this year than now. He claims his colleagues rarely bring up the topic, and his team plans future product features in the app as if there’s no ban taking place soon.

“I feel indifferent now,” he says. “There’s little you can do as an ordinary employee, and everyone thinks that way, so the result is business as usual.”

WIRED talked to half a dozen employees at TikTok and its parent company ByteDance on the condition of anonymity, and all of them report very little, if any, discussion of US elections or politics among their ranks.