(Ottawa) The federal government ordered a “national security review” of the popular video app TikTok last September, but did not disclose it publicly.
The office of the Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, indicates that the file is still active and that he cannot comment further due to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act. The minister’s office assures that the government “has never hesitated to take measures, when necessary, if it turns out that a matter under examination undermines Canada’s national security.”
The revelation comes after the House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday that would ban the TikTok platform in the United States unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the company.
When asked if the Canadian government would consider a measure similar to the US bill, Minister Champagne’s office responded that the Liberal cabinet had already issued “an order for the national security review of TikTok Canada” on September 6 last year.
The minister’s office indicated that this review was based on the expansion of a business, the creation of a new Canadian entity. Minister Champagne’s office declined to provide further details on this expansion. His office said the cabinet order was not available online, as is usual, because the information is protected and confidential under the Investment Canada Act.
The decree anticipated that TikTok would be subject to “substantial review” under the law as part of a new policy on foreign investment in the interactive digital media sector, published by the government in early March.
This policy statement recognizes that “certain state-sponsored or state-influenced hostile actors may seek to leverage foreign investment in the interactive digital media sector in order to spread disinformation or manipulate information in a manner that harms the national security of Canada.
The Canadian government banned the use of the TikTok app on all mobile devices in the state in February 2023, after federal and provincial privacy commissioners launched their own investigation into the platform. Several provincial governments, including that of Quebec, quickly followed suit.
Chinese property
The Canadian review enacted in September is not related to the proposed U.S. bill, which is driven by concerns that the company’s current ownership structure poses a threat to national security.
TikTok is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese technology company ByteDance. U.S. lawmakers say ByteDance is indebted to the Chinese government, which could demand access to TikTok’s U.S. consumer data, given China’s national security laws that require organizations to help with intelligence collection.
The House bill still needs to pass the Senate, where lawmakers have indicated it will face increased scrutiny. US President Joe Biden has said that if Congress passes the measure, he will ratify it.
Nearly 30% of Canadian respondents to an October 2022 survey by Toronto Metropolitan University said they use TikTok.
For many Canadian content creators on TikTok, the U.S. market is key, said Scott Benzie, director of Digital First Canada, which advocates for digital creators and has already received funding from TikTok. “If a ban is actually adopted in the United States, Canadian careers on TikTok will be over,” he said.
For content creators who make money through sponsorships, “obviously, most of these brands want access to the American audience — and if that’s no longer possible, then that money disappears.”
But Nathan Kennedy, a personal finance content creator from Hamilton, Ont., isn’t too worried just yet, noting that threats of a TikTok ban have been looming for years.
TikTok is its largest platform and the majority of its audience is in the United States. He finds it hard to believe that a ban would actually happen and force TikTok out of the United States. But if the hypothetical worst-case scenario were to occur, Mr. Kennedy would turn to other platforms.
“People will still watch content, that’s not going to change. It’s where they view their content that could change over time, he said. I don’t want to seem careless, but this is the kind of thing we have to accept. […] in other words, we must go where the audience is. »