the threat of the United States to ban the social network causes Australia and Canada to react

In these countries, Chinese TikTok is already partially banned, members of the government cannot use it on their work phones or computers. The American debates are closely followed.

In the United States, the House of Representatives voted on March 13 for a text that gives six months to the Chinese group ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, to sell its shares in the social network. This social network is extremely popular, but the relations of the group, which owns it with the Chinese government, make the American authorities fear serious security risks.

It’s not just the United States that’s worried, Australia and Canada are as well. For almost a year, like members of the Five Eyes intelligence network (which brings together the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia), Australian and Canadian officials have ban on installing TikTok on government phones or computers. The American debates are therefore of great interest to Australia and Canada.

Australia: no outright ban

Nearly a third of the Australian population, or eight million people, use TikTok. And DIn the case of Australia, this decision to ban the social network from its civil servants follows opinions issued by intelligence agencies and the Ministry of Justice. They believe that the use of TikTok poses serious security and privacy risks. They consider that like other social networks, TikTok collects a lot of data from its users.

But the difference with Facebook or Instagram for example is that ByteDance, the company which owns TikTok, is suspected by Australian services of sharing this information with the government and the Chinese Communist Party. There is also the fear that this application serves as a sort of Trojan horse through which much more sensitive information could be obtained by Chinese spies, hence this ban on using TikTok on devices issued by the government. And the Australian government has explained in recent days that, based on intelligence advice provided to them, an outright ban on TikTok in Australia is not necessary.

China, first trading partner

But This is not the opinion of the opposition, which considers that TikTok is less a commercial enterprise than an extension of the Chinese government. She recalled, for example, that TikTok had not hesitated to exploit the data of journalists using the application to identify their sources. But also that it was full of propaganda videos favorable to China and that it was, more generally, a mine of disinformation and fake news, which abound on TikTok even more than on other social networks. The Australian government undoubtedly wants to manage its relationship with China, which despite major political differences, remains by far Australia’s leading trading partner and the essential ingredient of its prosperity.

Canada: Justin Trudeau does not comment

Canada does not rule out following the United States, if they were to ban TikTok, but without getting too far ahead either. “Canada has determined that no government phone or device can have the TikTok app for security and safety reasons. We are of course following the debate in the United States and I cannot comment on ongoing national security reviews “reacted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week after the announcement of the American bill.

The Canadian government revealed that it opened a federal national security investigation into TikTok in September 2023 and the audit is still ongoing. The Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry explained that the investigation concerned a possible expansion of a company’s activities in Canada and the creation of a new Canadian entity. But no other details were communicated.

The Quebec Prime Minister on Tiktok

Canada therefore bans the use of TikTok on government phones and devicesfor a little over a year andThe government of the province of Quebec followed suit. Quebec Prime Minister François Legault, rather active on TikTok, stopped posting videos on the platform immediately. But at the beginning of March 2024, he announced his return to the social network. The Quebec Ministry of Security and Digital Affairs has indicated that the use of TikTok is permitted on Quebec government devices, but only via a web browser. And since the possibility of foreign interference is still not ruled out, government phones that connect to TikTok, like that of the Prime Minister of Quebec, are not connected to state data.

Relations between China and Canada have deteriorated in recent years. China is notably suspected of interference during the last Canadian elections. On the user side, Canadian content creators hope that TikTok will not be banned in the United States. This move would force them to turn to other platforms, like Instagram, to continue reaching their American audience.