TikTok investigating claims executive said he ‘didn’t believe’ in maternity leave

TikTok says it is investigating remarks allegedly made by a senior executive disparaging the concept of maternity leave, amid reports he is stepping back from his role.

Joshua Ma, the head of the company's e-commerce division across Europe, told staff that as a "capitalist", he "didn't believe" firms should offer maternity leave, according to a report in the Financial Times on Wednesday.

In a statement, a TikTok spokesperson said: "We are investigating alleged statements and actions to determine whether there has been a breach of company policies."

According to the FT, Ma will "take some time off" and "step back" from his current UK-based role.

Ma's comments were reported in the context of the choppy launch the company's TikTok Shop service, which arrived in the UK in October. The feature, which allows TikTok creators to host a QVC-style live shopping experience, is part of a successful offering on TikTok's Chinese sister app, Douyin.

But while Douyin users, as well as users of TikTok Shop in the various Asian markets where it was first launched, leapt on the service, in the UK it has struggled to gain traction. Hosts and brands are regularly subsidised by TikTok, which supports deep discounts in sales but has failed to garner a regular returning audience.

Worse, those sales with too-good-to-be-true prices are undercut by other items whose prices really are too good to be true: the platform is struggling with a counterfeiting problem, leaving users unclear if a Dyson hairdryer worth £450 is selling for £14 because of a subsidy or a scam.