(Ottawa) A TikTok executive is clashing with Canadian lawmakers who fear the app’s data could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
Steve de Eyre, director of public policy and government affairs for TikTok Canada, stressed at a House of Commons committee meeting that the video-sharing app is not controlled by the Chinese government .
Western governments have raised concerns that the popular platform owned by Beijing-based ByteDance could put sensitive data in the hands of the Chinese government or be used as a disinformation tool.
Chinese law says the government can order companies to help it gather intelligence.
In February, the federal government banned the use of TikTok on state-owned devices, and provinces followed suit.
Federal and provincial privacy agencies also investigated whether TikTok complied with privacy laws.
With information from the Associated Press.