Canada is reviewing the security implications of Chinese-owned TikTok's plan to expand the popular video app in the country.
Canada Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne made this statement on Friday.
Champagne, speaking from Italy in a teleconference after meeting with G7 counterparts, mentioned that the review under the Investment Canada Act had started quietly in September 2023.
“We have started a national security review of TikTok.
“Once we have finished that,” he said, “we'll inform Canadians about any actions that we decide to take regarding that particular matter.
“I'll have more to say when our review is completed,” the minister added without mentioning when that would be,” he told reporters.
Champagne referred to a March 2023 announcement that foreign investments in Canada’s interactive digital media sector would face “intense scrutiny.”
According to the policy statement, those found to be “propagating disinformation or manipulating information in a manner that is injurious to Canada’s national security” could face mitigation measures or even a ban.
The Canadian review is not connected to a proposed US bill that would require its Chinese owners to sell or face a ban in the United States.
That bill is partly motivated by concerns over Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.
TikTok is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
“We’re monitoring, of course, the discussion happening in the United States,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday after the US House of Representatives passed the bill, which still needs approval from the Senate.
Ottawa banned TikTok from federal government mobile devices in February 2023.
AFP
