DEKYAS NEWS World Breaking News and Trusted Source
Related Articles
The federal government on Wednesday ordered an end to TikTok's Canadian operations, citing national security concerns. But the decision to keep the app itself available has confused privacy experts.
The order to close the social media platform's offices in Vancouver and Toronto came after a months-long national security review of the app.
The federal government banned TikTok from government devices in February 2023.
How big is this?
For most Canadians, the decision to end the social media platform's operations in the country will go largely unnoticed.
Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said those directly affected by the decision are TikTok employees, most of whom are not Canadian citizens.
With the social media platform's Canadian operations ending, these employees will have to leave the country depending on their status.
A TikTok spokesperson said in an email Wednesday that the company plans to take legal action.
“Closing TikTok's Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of good-paying local jobs is not in anyone's best interest, and today's decision will do just that,” the company said. “We will challenge this order in court.”
Should Canadians Stop Using TikTok?
It is at your discretion.
Champagne told CBC News that Canadians will “have to draw their own conclusions” about TikTok, but as with any social media app, they should be aware of its use.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned Canadians against using TikTok.
Former CSIS director David Vigneault told CBC in an interview that it is “very clear” from the app's design that users' data is “available to the Chinese government.”
“As an individual, I would say I would absolutely not recommend anyone use TikTok,” Vigneault said at the time.
Tiktok collects data about users, such as their location, IP address, search history and how they interact with content on the platform, according to the company's privacy policy.
Philip Mai, co-director of Toronto Metropolitan University's Social Media Lab, said personal data collected by platforms like TikTok, Facebook and .
CSIS Director David Vigneault says using TikTok is risky and that the ability for the Chinese government to access personal data from the social media platform poses a “threat to the way we live.”
The main security issue regarding TikTok, according to Mai, lies in the fact that the company that owns TikTok – ByteDance – is subject to the Chinese government.
He said the concern is that ByteDance could be forced by Beijing to hand over user data to the Chinese government, and “we would never know until it's too late.”
“There is no public evidence yet of any harm” to Canadian TikTok users, Mai said. 'That doesn't mean no damage has been done. It just means we haven't seen it yet.”
Leaked audio from internal TikTok meetings shows that US user data is approached repeatedly from China. That would be TikTok's parent company helped build China's crackdown on the Uighurs, a predominantly Muslim ethnic group in Xinjiang province. A former employee claims it also helped authorities track down protesters in Hong Kong.
David Shipley, CEO of Fredericton-based Beauceron Security, said social media users may be shown videos and images without knowing why those messages are being amplified.
'Make no mistake. These things can be used as weapons,” he said. “It's not just China, of course.”
Shipley added that those who control social media algorithms determine what kinds of stories users are exposed to, which determines their “perception of the world… And that benefits people and not necessarily you.”
'We live in a hostile information environment and arm countries that do not have our interests [at heart] having tools to directly influence the minds of Canadians is a stupid, bad idea,” he said.
How does this compare to the possible US TikTok ban?
US President Joe Biden signed a bill in April 2023 requiring ByteDance to sell the social media platform by January 19, 2025 or ban TikTok in the US
TikTok has described that law as an infringement on the freedom of expression of its users, most of whom use the app for entertainment.
“We believe that the facts and the law are clearly on our side, and that we will ultimately prevail,” the company wrote on the social platform X.
Michael Geist, a law professor at the University of Ottawa and Canada Research Chair in internet and e-commerce law, said halting TikTok's operations in Canada could make enforcing privacy laws more difficult.
“It's really confusing to take an approach that seems to weaken enforcement, weaken some of the government's other public policy objectives, and doesn't really seem to address the underlying security and privacy-related concerns,” he says. said.
In enforcing the law, it is helpful to have companies with a physical presence in the country, Geist said.
“You want to have someone you can hang out with, who you can sometimes serve legal papers to,” Geist said. “That is much more difficult if the company is not even active here.”
Why not ban the app altogether if it poses a security risk?
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday that the decision to end TikTok's Canadian operations was based on a recommendation from the intelligence services and police.
“We are preoccupied with the activities of the Vancouver-based TikTok Canada business entity,” Joly said, adding that the decision sends “a message” to China.
“The social media TikTok in Canada is based in Singapore and is therefore not part of this decision that my colleague François-Philippe Champagne has just announced.”
The federal government announced Wednesday that it will order TikTok to close its operations in Canada, but Canadians can still download and use the app. On Thursday, Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly said the federal government was “preoccupied with the activities of the TikTok Canada business entity.”
Mai said he suspects that with the federal election around the corner, the federal government is not eager to upset young voters, who are more likely to use TikTok.
“It seems like they will slowly get around the TikTok ban,” Mai said. “To bring Canada into line with our Five Eyes partners, they may have to ban the app completely, but that would be well after the election.”
