TikTok Canada offices ordered shut over ‘national security risks’

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OTTAWA – The federal government has ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian arm over security concerns, a move it says won’t affect Canadians’ access to the viral video app that security agencies say can be used by China to spy on users.

In a statement Wednesday, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that the government had issued an order to TikTok Technology Canada to “wind up” its business in light of the “national security risks” linked to the app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

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In response, company spokesperson Danielle Morgan said the firm plan to fight the decision in court.

“Shutting down TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone’s best interest, and today’s shutdown order will do just that. We will challenge this order in court. The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive,” Morgan said in a statement.

Champagne said the decision was based on “information and evidence” amassed by the government during a national security review launched last year, as well as advice from the Canadian security and intelligence community.

TikTok Technology Canada is mostly responsible for advertising sales and marketing of the app. It has offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

Despite those risks, the minister noted that Canadians will still be able to access the app after TikTok Technology Canada is dissolved.

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“The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice,” Champagne said.

“It is important for Canadians to adopt good cyber security practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors.”

The wildly popular video app has long been suspected by the U.S. government, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and numerous cybersecurity experts of offering the Chinese government a backdoor to users’ data.

The app’s owner, ByteDance, is based in China and beholden to strict Chinese national security laws that would compel it to provide data to the government if required. The company has said that foreign user data is not stored in China.

The application was banned from federal government devices in February 2023.

A CSIS document tabled at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in September reveals the spy agency already believed in 2022 that TikTok could be used by China as a tool to monitor foreigners.

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“TikTok, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) first Western-centric social media application, has the potential to be exploited by the PRC government to bolster its influence and power overseas, including in Canada,” reads the partly redacted CSIS “analytical brief.”

“The highly addictive short-video application, owned by PRC’s ByteDance, allows (redacted) access to sensitive user data. Despite assurances to the contrary, personal data on TikTok users is accessible to China.”

The document notes that the app has “significant access” to sensitive user data such as facial geometry, iris scans and voice recognition, as well as users’ IP address and GPS location.

Earlier this year, then-CSIS Director David Vigneault told CBC News that he would “absolutely not recommend” anyone download the TikTok app because of the risks it poses.

In a blog post Wednesday, University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said the decision to ban TikTok Technologies Canada instead of the application outright would likely do more harm than good.

“There may well be good reasons to ban the app if it poses security and privacy risks that differ from those of other platforms, but banning the company rather than the app may actually make matters worse since the risks associated with the app will remain but the ability to hold the company accountable will be weakened,” Geist wrote.

National Post

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