TikTok ordered to close its Vancouver and Toronto offices

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The federal government has ordered the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian offices in Vancouver and Toronto over security concerns.

The move will not affect Canadians’ access to the wildly popular video app, which security agencies warn can be used by China to spy on users.

In a statement Wednesday, Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced that the government had issued an order to TikTok Technology Canada to “wind up” its business in light of the “national security risks” linked to the app and its Chinese parent company, ByteDance.

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“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,” he said in a statement.

“While Canada continues to welcome foreign direct investment, the government will act decisively when investments threaten our national security.”

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court, ” said Danielle Morgan. “The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

TikTok Technology Canada is mostly responsible for advertising sales and marketing of the app. It has offices in Vancouver and Toronto.

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Champagne said Canadians will still be able to access the app after TikTok Technology Canada is dissolved.

“The government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content. The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice,” Champagne said.

“It is important for Canadians to adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors.”

TikTok has long been suspected by the U.S. government, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) and numerous cybersecurity experts of offering the Chinese government a backdoor to users’ data.

The app’s owner, ByteDance, is based in China and beholden to strict Chinese national security laws that would compel it to provide data to the government if required. The company has said that foreign user data is not stored in China.

The application was banned from federal government devices in February 2023.

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A CSIS document tabled at the Public Inquiry into Foreign Interference in September reveals the spy agency already believed in 2022 that TikTok could be used by China as a tool to monitor foreigners.

“TikTok, the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) first Western-centric social media application, has the potential to be exploited by the PRC government to bolster its influence and power overseas, including in Canada,” reads the partly redacted CSIS “analytical brief.”

“The highly addictive short-video application, owned by PRC’s ByteDance, allows (redacted) access to sensitive user data. Despite assurances to the contrary, personal data on TikTok users is accessible to China.”

The document notes that the app has “significant access” to sensitive user data such as facial geometry, iris scans and voice recognition, as well as users’ IP address and GPS location.

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

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A government database revealed a notification of new business by TikTok in June 2023. A subsidiary called Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Vancouver and Toronto would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

A search of B.C.’s corporate naming database shows that Network Sense Ventures changed its name to TikTok Technology Canada in August 2020. It is unclear how many people work for the Canadian arm, though the company has over 38,000 employees worldwide.

In a blog post Wednesday, University of Ottawa professor Michael Geist said the decision to close Canadian offices without an outright ban on the app will likely do more harm than good.

“There may well be good reasons to ban the app if it poses security and privacy risks that differ from those of other platforms, but banning the company rather than the app may actually make matters worse since the risks associated with the app will remain but the ability to hold the company accountable will be weakened,” Geist wrote.

Even before the federal review, ByteDance and TikTok were a lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

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A bill is moving through the U.S. House of Representatives that is designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

TikTok is the fifth most popular social media app in the world with a reach of over 1.5 billion users — behind Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp and Instagram but ahead of X, Snapchat and Pinterest.

With files from The Canadian Press and National Post

jruttle@postmedia.com

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