Canada orders closure of TikTok’s operations in the country due to security risks
Canada on Wednesday ordered the dissolution of Chinese-owned TikTok’s operations in the country, citing national security risks, but added that the government would restrict Canadians’ access to the short video app or their ability to view content to create did not block.
“The government is taking action to address the specific national security risks associated with ByteDance’s activities in Canada through the creation of TikTok Technology Canada Inc,” Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.
Ottawa last year began reviewing TikTok’s plan to invest and expand its operations in Canada. ByteDance is the Chinese parent company of TikTok.
Canadian law allows the government to assess potential risks to national security from foreign investments such as the TikTok proposal. The law prohibits the government from disclosing the details of such investments.
“The decision was based on the information and evidence gathered during the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” Champagne added.
TikTok said it will challenge the order in court.
“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,” a TikTok spokesperson said in a statement.
Canada has banned the TikTok app on government-issued devices, saying it poses an unacceptable risk to privacy and security.
TikTok and ByteDance filed a lawsuit in U.S. federal court in May in an attempt to block a law signed by President Joe Biden.
The law, which was signed by Biden on April 24, gives ByteDance until January 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban. The White House has said it wants Chinese ownership to end for national security reasons, but not through a ban on TikTok.
© Thomson Reuters 2024
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