The Chief Operating Officer of social media giant TikTok, V. Pappas, announced that he is stepping down from the role after five years.

In an email to staff on Thursday, Pappas said they would be taking on an advisory role for the company during the transition.

"Given all the successes reached by TikTok, I finally feel the time is right to move on and refocus on my entrepreneurial passions," said Pappas, who uses the pronoun they.

ByteDance Chief Executive Shou Chew also announced Thursday in a memo to employees shared with Reuters that Zenia Mucha, previously a 20-year veteran at Walt Disney Co, will join TikTok as chief brand and communications officer.

Chew said that TikTok's chief of staff, Adam Presser, will become head of operations and oversee content, user operations and distribution.

TikTok has faced scrutiny worldwide over security concerns due to its Chinese ownership.

U.S. lawmakers last week introduced new legislation to protect Americans' user data from being used by U.S. adversaries.

Last month, TikTok sued Montana after it became the first state to ban the app state-wide.