Toronto to remove, block TikTok on city-issued devices

The City of Toronto says it will be removing TikTok from approximately 350 City-issued devices that it has been downloaded onto.

In a statement issued Friday afternoon, the City said it will also be blocking the app from being downloaded on City-issued devices in the future.

The City said the decision to block and remove the application “is in line with the approach of federal, provincial and municipal partners, and was made in consultation with the City’s Technology Services Division, Office of the Chief Information Security Officer and Senior Leadership.”

“While there have been no security or privacy breaches, the City is committed to ensuring the protection of its data and keeping information secure,” the statement read. “The City continuously monitors its digital assets to detect and respond to cyber threats to protect privacy and government data and assets.”

On Thursday, the provincial government said it would be banning the app on government-owned devices and on the personal devices of Progressive Conservative Party caucus members.

The federal government banned the use of the short-form video app on all mobile devices it issued in late February.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier claimed “it presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

2:06 Movement to ban TikTok grows

The app has been the target of several bans from the European Commission and India, with the United States Congress doing the same on most U.S. government-issued devices over bipartisan concerns about security.

Clouding of the social media platform stem from TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, and the Chinese government’s potential influence over that entity.

-with files from Global News’ Don Mitchell and the Canadian Press