Beijing Could Exploit TikTok to Bolster Its Power, Says Canada’s Intelligence Agency in Declassified Document

The TikTok logo is displayed on signage outside the TikTok social media app company offices in Culver City, Calif., on March 16, 2023. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

The Beijing regime is potentially leveraging TikTok, the short video streaming application, to bolster its strength, Canada’s intelligence agency said in a document recently released publicly.

The 2022 document released to the Foreign Interference Commission shows the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) expressing concerns about the app’s collection of Western user data and its potential impact on democracy.

“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,” CSIS said in the “Analytical Brief.”

The redacted version of the top-secret document was released on Sept. 18 by the inquiry currently investigating foreign interference in Canada.

The Epoch Times reached out to TikTok Canada for comment but did not immediately hear back.

CSIS noted that TikTok is one of the “dominant social media apps in the market,” available in 150 countries and supporting 75 languages. The platform has over 1 billion monthly active users, including 8 million in Canada.

Data Security

CSIS expressed concerns over TikTok’s data collection, particularly because its parent company, ByteDance, must comply with Chinese laws that require companies to provide access to the country’s intelligence agencies. This, CSIS warned, may expose Canadian users and companies to potential data exploitation.

TikTok gathers a wide range of user information, including biometric data, location details, and device information. “TikTok [redacted] has access to a significant amount of user data that contains sensitive personal information,” CSIS wrote.

Although ByteDance says its user information is stored in data centres in the United States and Singapore, CSIS pointed to the company’s internal documents indicating that data stored overseas may still be accessible from servers in China.

Additionally, CSIS cited ByteDance’s internal audit team, saying that it had “plans to access GPS location data from specific US users’ devices—without their knowledge or consent—to closely monitor them for unverified purposes.”

Censoring Content

CSIS said that TikTok and ByteDance have been involved in censoring content related to democratic values, citing open-source research.

An example of this was during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections when ByteDance failed to remove 90 percent of disinformation ads, while other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube successfully blocked the majority, CSIS said.

Additionally, TikTok’s algorithm has reportedly directed users to content featuring Russian mercenaries in Ukraine, which CSIS said violates the platform’s guidelines forbidding content that “promotes, normalizes, or glorifies extreme violence.”

International Bans

CSIS noted that several countries have placed restrictions on or completely banned TikTok due to security concerns. In June 2020, India banned TikTok along with 300 other apps from China, labelling them a “threat to sovereignty and integrity.” Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia have introduced restrictions on its use, particularly on government devices.

In April, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok within a year or face a ban from mobile app stores and hosting services. This divestiture aims to protect Americans’ data security and national interests by preventing the Chinese Communist Party from accessing TikTok’s U.S. customer data, according to John Kirby, the White House national security communications adviser.

Canada prohibited TikTok on government-issued mobile devices as of Feb. 28, 2023. Following the federal ban, provinces and territories have similarly restricted TikTok on their government-issued devices.

Amid these restrictions, TikTok is accelerating the transfer of its China-based employees to Canada and other overseas positions. Citing open-source information, CSIS noted that TikTok has posted hundreds of job openings in Canada. The agency also raised concerns about a TikTok subsidiary that opened an office in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto in late 2020.