The federal government is ordering TikTok to end its business interests in Canada following a national security review, but will still allow Canadians to use the popular social media app.
The decision announced by Innovation and Science Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne on Wednesday comes after a lengthy review into security concerns over the app and its Chinese owner ByteDance.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” Champagne said in a statement.
“The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content,” the minister added. “The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice.”
The statement did not give a timeline for when TikTok would need to “wind up” its business in Canada. The company operates multiple offices in Toronto and Vancouver but its footprint in the country is far smaller than its U.S. presence, which is also under threat.
A spokesperson for TikTok told Global News the company will challenge the order 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,” the spokesperson said in an emailed statement.
Western governments have expressed concerns that the popular platform could put sensitive data in the hands of China’s government or be used as a misinformation tool. Chinese law says the government in Beijing can order companies to help it gather intelligence.
A U.S. law passed earlier this year that would ban TikTok in the country unless ByteDance divests its ownership stake in the platform is currently making its way through the courts. The company’s legal challenge argues the law violates free speech protections.
The Canadian government banned TikTok on all government devices last year, but political parties have still used the app and courted influencers to reach voters.
However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in May that “Canadians need to listen” after the director of Canada’s spy agency CSIS called TikTok “a real threat.”
A 2022 intelligence brief by Canada’s Privy Council Office shows TikTok is the first Chinese-owned app that to reach over a billion users beyond China, “creating a globally embedded and ubiquitous collection and influence platform for Beijing to exploit.”
A September 2022 intelligence brief reported on by The Canadian Press under access-to-information law also provided fresh insight into Canadian government concerns about TikTok.
The report said the brief by the Privy Council Office’s intelligence assessment secretariat says TikTok is the first Chinese-owned app to reach more than a billion users beyond China, “creating a globally embedded and ubiquitous collection and influence platform for Beijing to exploit.”
“Despite assurances, there is growing evidence that TikTok’s data is accessible to China,” said the heavily edited brief, which was based on both open sources and classified information.
The company has said the same scrutiny being applied to it amid talk of a U.S. ban should apply to all social media companies as well.
—With files from Global’s Nathaniel Dove and Uday Rana, and the Canadian Press and Reuters