China Targeting Youth on TikTok to Influence Future Western Leaders, Intel Officials Warn

A view of the TikTok offices in Toronto, on Dec. 4, 2024. The Canadian Press/Chris Young

Government officials told Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission that China’s disinformation efforts are targeting young people as part of a long-term strategy to shape future Western leaders.

“A hefty percentage of Canadians are on TikTok, and it is easier for China to reach Canadians through a series of 10 second videos than through articles in traditional media,” says an interview summary produced by the commission, which was first covered by Blacklock’s Reporter.

The summary, relaying observations by Nabih Eldebs, assistant secretary to the cabinet for the Security and Intelligence Secretariat, said the “proliferation of social media platforms has influenced how adversaries shape the information environment, and how they engage with youth.”

“Tools like TikTok, for example, are ripe ground for targeting Canada’s youth, especially because TikTok content is moderated and influenced by China,” Eldebs is paraphrased as saying.

The summary mentioned a Privy Council Office (PCO) intelligence memo warning that the Chinese Communist Party is targeting youth as part of a “long-term strategy to influence future leaders in western countries,” including Canada.

The regime’s future propaganda and disinformation efforts would have “the greatest impact on teens and young adults,” citing their reliance on TikTok as a primary source of “unbiased news,” the interview summary stated.

Eldebs and other senior PCO intelligence officials were interviewed privately by commission counsel last summer.

Ottawa established the Foreign Interference Commission in September of 2023 to assess potential interference by China and other foreign states in order to confirm the integrity of the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The federal government ordered TikTok Canada on Nov. 6 to wind up its operations, citing “national security risks” related to TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance. Such concerns stem from Chinese laws, including the 2017 National Intelligence Law, which requires individuals and businesses in China to cooperate with the regime’s intelligence operations. That cooperation includes the collection of data both domestically and abroad.

A woman walks past the headquarters of ByteDance, the parent company of video sharing app TikTok, in Beijing on September 16, 2020. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images

TikTok user data could potentially be accessed by Beijing via ByteDance, TikTok Americas privacy and public policy chief David Lieber testified before the House of Commons ethics committee in October 2023.

Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) Director Daniel Rogers also warned the House ethics committee last December that China uses big data collected from social media platforms like TikTok to “carry out foreign interference activities.”

Ottawa banned the use of the TikTok on government-issued mobile devices in February of 2023 following a review in which the Chief Information Officer of Canada determined the app presented an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

Red Note

Former U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill last April requiring ByteDance to divest itself of TikTok or face a ban from online app stores. The ban, which took effect on Jan. 19, caused TikTok to temporarily suspend its service, but appeared to be quickly restored after incoming President Donald Trump pledged to extend the deadline during his inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump has signed an executive order pausing the enforcement of the ban for 75 days.

Before the U.S. ban took effect, an estimated 700,000 TikTok users from the United States migrated to another Chinese app, RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu in China. The app is owned by Shanghai-based Xingyin Information Technology Ltd.

Icons for the smartphone apps Xiaohongshu and TikTok are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, on Jan. 14, 2025. AP Photo/Andy Wong

CSIS told The Epoch Times that the Chinese regime uses other social media platforms to target foreign adversaries and spread disinformation, raising similar security concerns about the application of Chinese law to TikTok.

“CSIS is highly concerned about foreign interference, particularly the potential for threat actors to use social media to spread disinformation,” CSIS spokesperson Lindsay Sloane wrote in an emailed statement. “This concern is not limited to any specific platform but is focused on the intentions and strategies of foreign adversaries.”

Sloane said the Chinese regime continued expanding the powers and capabilities of its security services, noting that under Xi Jinping, it introduced a suite of national security laws granting extra-judicial and extraterritorial powers. These laws include provisions requiring Chinese citizens or companies “anywhere in the world” to assist and cooperate with its “national intelligence work.”

Reuters contributed to this report.