Canada on Monday announced a ban on Chinese social media app TikTok on government-issued devices, saying it poses an “unacceptable” level of risk to privacy and security, adding to the growing divide between the two countries.
The fallout from Canada’s banning of Chinese-owned TikTok on government devices appears to be hurting the leaders of the country’s two main opposition parties, who have used the app more actively than the ruling liberals to win over supporters. .
The leaders of the two largest opposition parties – Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre and New Democrat party leader Jagmeet Singh – are among the politicians who have actively used TikTok to reach out to voters.
But that strategy could be compromised after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government on Monday announced a ban on TikTok on government-issued devices due to security risks, as user data could end up in government hands. Chinese.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters his government is carefully considering how to keep Canadians safe online.
As the government bans TikTok on work phones, “many Canadians, businesses and individuals will be thinking about the security of their own data and perhaps making choices accordingly,” he said.
This prompted lawmakers from the ruling Liberals and opposition Conservatives to go even further, suspending their TikTok accounts. Liberal lawmakers were also instructed to remove the app from personal devices and suspend all associated accounts.
Conflicting relations between Canada and China
Canada’s action presents another potential thorn in China-Canada relations which have been strained in recent years for a variety of reasons, most recently over accusations from Ottawa that China tried to influence its elections and that it conducted aerial and maritime surveillance activities.
Beijing denies the allegations and has urged Ottawa to end what it called unwarranted speculation and libel.
Ottawa has also barred Chinese companies from Canada’s critical minerals and telecommunications sectors, citing national security risks.
In November, he ordered three Chinese companies to divest of critical Canadian minerals, and before that he banned the use of 5G equipment made by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. [RIC:RIC:HWT.UL] and ZTE Corp (000063.SZ).
Last week, federal and three provincial privacy authorities across Canada said they were jointly investigating TikTok over concerns about the platform’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information.
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