Ottawa Orders Canadian TikTok Offices to Close, App Still Available

Tik Tok logos are seen on smartphones in front of a displayed ByteDance logo in this illustration taken Nov. 27, 2019. Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo/Reuters

The Canadian government has ordered the Chinese social media app TikTok to close up its Canadian offices over national security concerns although it hasn’t banned the app for users.

Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry François-Philippe Champagne made the announcement in a statement on Nov. 6.

“As a result of a multi-step national security review process, which involves rigorous scrutiny by Canada’s national security and intelligence community, the Government of Canada has ordered the wind up of the Canadian business carried on by TikTok Technology Canada, Inc.,” Champagne said.

He said the government was taking action over “specific national security risks” related to TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd.

“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,” the minister said.

Ottawa stopped short of banning the TikTok app, saying it was a personal decision for Canadians to make.

“It is important for Canadians to adopt good cyber security 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, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply,” Champagne said.

In 2023, the Canadian government banned TikTok from government communication devices, saying the app presented a risk to privacy and security.

The U.S. government has gone a step further, saying TikTok will be banned from mobile app stores and web-hosting services unless the app’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, sells TikTok to an American company by Jan. 19, 2025. TikTok is challenging the order in court.

The company says it will also launch a legal challenge against the latest Canadian order.

“Shutting down TikTok’s Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone’s best interest, and today’s shutdown order will do just that,” the company said in a media statement.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has said the app poses a national security concern.

“They include the possibility that the Chinese government could use it to control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose, or to control software on millions of devices which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices,” he said in 2022.

School Boards Sue

In March, a group of Ontario school boards filed a court challenge against several social media companies, including TikTok, saying the companies’ apps have disrupted student learning and the education system.

The boards, which include the Toronto District School Board, the Peel District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board, and the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, are suing for more than $4 billion.

More than a dozen states have come together to sue TikTok for exploiting and harming young users with its addictive platform.

A coalition of 14 U.S. attorney generals filed the lawsuit in early October.

Andrew Thornebrooke, The Associated Press, and Reuters contributed to this report.