TikTok execs sought to assure advertisers at a NewFronts presentation Tuesday that their platform is safe and trustworthy,, and backed by an open-ended commitment..
“The one thing I really want to say, and I want to say this very clearly, and I want to say this from my heart: TikTok is here. We are here,” declared Khartoon Weiss, who was promoted this year to head of North American ad sales. “We are absolutely confident in our platform and confident in the future of this platform. So we’re going to continue to invest in it. There’s a lot that’s going to come at you.”
While it continues to be wildly popular, used monthly by 170 million Americans and gaining momentum as an ad vehicle, TikTok faces an uncertain ownership future amid scrutiny of its parent company, China-based ByteDance. After a court ruling forcing the divestiture of the U.S. assets of the short-form video app over security concerns, a deadline for the transaction was delayed until June 19 by President Trump. In an interview with NBC News last weekend, Trump said he would consider another extension of the deadline.
“Thank you for sticking with us,” Weiss added. “Our advertising business will not change.”
Before the current pause, the federal court ruling upholding the Congressional ban of TikTok in the U.S. prompted a tidal wave of anxious memes and videos by creators and users fearing the end was near.
The NewFronts event began with an acknowledgement of the upheaval, In an unusual sequence for an ad pitch, the second speaker to take the stage at the New York event hall, joining Weiss onstage, was Suzy Loftus. Now TikTok’s head of trust and safety, Loftus does not come from media or tech, but instead is known for serving as San Francisco D.A. and in other governmental roles.
“We are held to a higher standard because of our impact on culture,” Loftus argued about TikTok.
At no point did Loftus or any other speaker even obliquely refer to the Washington microscope, Trump or geopolitics. But Loftus spoke for nearly 10 minutes, outlining the “proactive strategies” that have been put in place to safeguard the platform.
The main goals, she said, are to make TikTok “inhospitable to bad actors” and a “trusted space for our users, creators and brands.”
One key ingredient, Loftus added, is “rigorous oversight by Oracle” of the company’s trove of user data. The fear among members of Congress and others in Washington has been that the Chinese government could gain access to user data and compromise U.S. security. During the years-long saga of TikTok, which dates to the first Trump administration, Oracle has emerged as a partner and potential investor in a re-financed or re-constituted U.S. branch of the tech platform.
The rigor and substance of the presentation’s early portion was balanced by signature TikTok insouciance. “We’re hyped to have you here,” an announcer told the crowd. Attendees waited, nightclub-style, in a long line stretching down West 23rd Street for up to a half-hour before being ushered inside.
After the initial portion highlighting the long-haul overall plans, the remainder of the hour-long presentation included the rollout of a range of features, which had been announced earlier Tuesday.
