The federal government ordered an end to TikTok’s Canadian operations on Wednesday, citing national security concerns. But its decision to keep the app itself available has privacy experts puzzled.
The order to shut down the social media platform’s Vancouver and Toronto offices came after a months-long national security review of the app.
The federal government banned TikTok from government devices in February 2023.
How big a deal 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 aren’t Canadian citizens.
With the social media platform’s Canadian operations ending, those workers will be required to leave the country, depending on their status.
A spokesperson for TikTok said in an email Wednesday that the company plans to take legal action.
“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,” the company said. “We will challenge this order in court.”
In a later statement, a spokesperson called Champagne’s comment that most affected TikTok employees aren’t Canadian citizens “categorically untrue and a troubling insinuation.”
“The majority of TikTok’s staff in Canada are proud Canadian citizens and permanent residents. We invite the minister to meet our employees whose jobs and livelihoods will be impacted by this order,” the spokesperson said.
Should Canadians stop using TikTok?
It’s at their 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 mindful of their use.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has warned Canadians against using TikTok.
Former CSIS director David Vigneault told CBC in an interview it’s “very clear” from the app’s design that data gleaned from its users “is available to the government of China.”
“As an individual, I would say that I would absolutely not recommend someone have TikTok,” Vigneault said at the time.
Tiktok collects data on users, such as their location, IP address, search history and how they engage with content on the platform, according to the company’s privacy policy.
Philip Mai, co-director of the Toronto Metropolitan University’s Social Media Lab, said that personal data collected by platforms like TikTok, Facebook and X can be easily harnessed later to build a profile of users and potentially compromise them.
The federal government has ordered TikTok to close its offices in Canada because of national security concerns. CBC’s Ashley Fraser explains what we know and don’t know about that risk.
The main security concern about TikTok, Mai said, lies in the fact…
Read More: What the federal ban on TikTok’s Canadian operations means for you
