Federal Departments Spent Over $2 Million on TikTok Ads Since 2020: Document

The download page for the TikTok app is displayed on an Apple iPhone in Washington DC, on Aug. 7, 2020. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A number of federal departments have spent a total of over $2 million on advertisements on the Chinese-owned video-sharing app TikTok since 2020, according to government records. The app was recently banned on federally-issued devices over security concerns.

The federal cabinet disclosed the figures in an Inquiry Of Ministry tabled in the Commons on Jan. 30, which shows the total amounts spent by federal departments and agencies on social media advertising over the past number of years.

The figures show that federal offices spent $2,211,696 on TikTok advertisements since 2020, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.

Public Services and Procurement Canada made up the bulk of the spending, with over $2 million spent on TikTok ads in 2020 and 2021. The department did not disclose its figures on the matter from 2022 to date.

The Department of Canadian Heritage spent over $9,500 running TikTok ads from 2022 to date, while the Veterans Affairs Department spent over $43,700 on such advertising in the 2021-2022 fiscal year.

Veterans Affairs also spent over $48,500 on TikTok ads from 2022 to the date the figures were compiled.

Other federal offices spending money on TikTok ads included Parks Canada and the National Film of Canada, which spent over $14,000 in 2021 and 2022 to date.

TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based tech company ByteDance, has drawn controversy over the app allegedly being used to give the Chinese Communist Party access to user data.

The video-sharing application was banned on federal government-issued devices in Canada as of Feb. 28 following an announcement yesterday by Treasury Board President Mona Fortier.

‘Unacceptable Level of Risk’

Fortier said Ottawa made the decision after Chief Information Officer Catherine Luelo determined the app presented an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

“The decision to remove and block TikTok from government mobile devices is being taken as a precaution, particularly given concerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected from mobile devices,” Fortier said.

TikTok is currently under joint investigation by federal Privacy Commissioner Philippe Dufresne and the provincial privacy authorities of British Columbia, Alberta, and Quebec.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also told reporters on Feb. 27 that the decision to ban TikTok on federally-issued devices may only be the “first step” Ottawa needs to take regarding the app, adding that he hopes the action will cause the general Canadian public to “reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices in consequence.”

TikTok has also been banned on state-owned devices by the U.S. federal government and 28 American states. It is also banned by the U.S. Armed Forces for military devices.

The U.S. House Homeland Security Committee heard last year from FBI Director Christopher Wray that TikTok’s risk to national security includes “the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm.”

Staff on both the European Commission and the European Union Council are also prohibited from downloading TikTok on their corporate devices and phones due to cybersecurity concerns.