Canada Orders TikTok Branch Closed, But App Is Accessible

The Canadian government's announcement means TikTok must close its offices in Toronto and Vancouver.

Ottawa imposed the measure "due to the specific risks to national security posed by ByteDance Ltd.'s activities in Canada," Canada's Innovation Minister François-Philippe Champagne said in a statement.

Owned by Chinese giant ByteDance and with more than a billion monthly active users, TikTok, which claims to have more than a billion monthly active users, was the subject of an audit in Canada launched in September 2023 after the government banned the app from government smartphones in February of that year, citing "an unacceptable level of risk" to privacy and security.

"This decision was based on the information and evidence gathered as part of the review, as well as advice from Canada's national security and intelligence agencies and other government partners," the minister added.

However, he added that the government “will not ban Canadians from accessing the TikTok app or prevent them from creating content,” leaving the choice to users, while warning against the potential use of their personal information “by foreign actors.”

TikTok has already indicated that it intends to challenge the decision in court.

“Closing TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paid local jobs is in no one’s interest, and that is precisely what today’s [Wednesday] closure order will do,” a company spokesperson told Agence France-Presse.

For Michael Geist, an expert on internet law at the University of Ottawa, the announcement “does not solve the larger privacy issue facing Canadians.”

“Banning the company instead of the app could make the situation worse, since the risks associated with the app will remain, but the ability to hold the company accountable will be weakened,” Geist said in a blog post.

TikTok has also been under scrutiny for months by U.S. authorities, who believe the short-form video app potentially allows the Chinese government to spy on and manipulate U.S. citizens.

The U.S. Congress passed a law in April that would require Chinese owners to sell the app or face a ban in the United States. The company has consistently denied the allegations and is currently challenging the law in U.S. federal court.