Canada Bans Use of TikTok on Government Electronic Devices

The Canadian authorities have prohibited the use of the TikTok application on all public mobile devices, and existing installations of the app will be removed, according to a statement from the Canadian Treasury Board Secretariat.

"After a review of TikTok, the Chief Information Officer of Canada has determined that it presents an unacceptable level of privacy and security risk," the statement noted. The ban will take effect on Tuesday, February 28.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that "as the government takes this important step by telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians—from businesses to individuals—will think about their data security..." Meanwhile, a spokesperson for TikTok pointed out that "the Canadian government has decided to block TikTok on government-issued devices without pointing to any specific security concerns or reaching out to us after similar bans were implemented in the EU and the US." In their opinion, this decision only "hampers officials' ability to reach the public on a platform loved by millions of Canadians."