DUBAI: TikTok’s parent company ByteDance has appointed Shant Oknayan as general manager of global business solutions across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey (MENAT).
In his new role, he will work closely with ByteDance’s clients and partners while leading the business, sales and marketing strategies across all of its products in the region.
Oknayan has nearly 20 years’ experience leading business development and digital transformation strategies for both government and private entities.
In his previous role as group director at Facebook MENA, he drove commercial partnerships across a broad number of categories including fast-moving consumer goods, retail and e-commerce.
He previously held a number of positions at Google in the region, including small and medium business market development, and head of strategy and operations.
Oknayan also brings an entrepreneurial mindset to ByteDance. In 2012, he co-founded GlamBox, the first subscription-based beauty e-commerce platform in the region, which was acquired in 2017 after multiple rounds of successful fundraising.
Commenting on his new role, he said: “I am truly excited to join ByteDance, which is one of the fastest-growing global technology companies, spearheading innovation in the mobile space. In the MENAT region, ByteDance — with its short-video platform TikTok — has truly disrupted the way people create and interact with content, inspiring creativity and bringing joy to the community. I look forward to bringing that engagement and excitement to the forefront of our clients’ business and marketing strategies, working closely with my colleagues and partners to create new synergies in the industry.”
Facebook’s Shant Oknayan joins TikTok parent company ByteDance
https://arab.news/824s8
Facebook’s Shant Oknayan joins TikTok parent company ByteDance
- Oknayan has nearly 20 years’ experience leading business development and digital transformation strategies
- He previously held a number of positions at Google in the region
Israel arrests 2 Turkish CNN journalists over live broadcast outside IDF HQ
- Police said reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility
- Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites
LONDON: Israeli police have arrested two Turkish CNN journalists who were broadcasting live outside the Israel Defense Forces’ headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Police said the pair were detained on suspicion of filming a sensitive security facility, according to the Israel Police Spokesperson’s Unit.
Reporter Emrah Cakmak and cameraman Halil Kahraman, from the network’s Turkish-language channel, had been reporting near the IDF’s Kirya military headquarters on Tuesday after Iran launched another missile barrage at Tel Aviv and other parts of central Israel.
During the live broadcast, two men believed to be soldiers approached the crew and seized the reporter’s phone, according to initial reports and a video circulating online that could not be independently verified.
Police said officers were dispatched after receiving reports of two people carrying cameras and allegedly broadcasting in real time for a foreign outlet.
עיתונאים של CNN טורקיה נעצרו לאחר שצילמו את בסיס הקרייה@NoamIhmels pic.twitter.com/t8a5P9yXfw
— גלצ (@GLZRadio) March 3, 2026
Israel’s long-standing military censorship system, overseen by the IDF Military Censor, has long barred journalists and civilians from publishing material deemed harmful to national security.
Since the Gaza war began, restrictions have expanded significantly, including tighter limits on filming soldiers on duty and sensitive or strategic sites.
After a series of similar incidents involving foreign media — most of them Palestinian citizens of Israel working for Arab-language and international media, along with foreign journalists — during the 12-Day War, Israeli police halted live international broadcasts from missile impact sites, citing concerns that exact locations were being revealed.
The Government Press Office later imposed a blanket ban on live coverage from crash and impact areas.
Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir subsequently ordered that all foreign journalists obtain prior written approval from the military censor before broadcasting — live or recorded — from combat zones or missile strike locations.
Police said that when officers asked the CNN Turk crew to identify themselves, they presented expired press cards and were taken in for questioning.
Burhanettin Duran, head of Turkiye’s Directorate of Communications, condemned the arrests as an attack on the press and said Ankara is working to secure the journalists’ release.
