Canada Bans TikTok on Government Owned Devices

TikTok “presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security” said a Canadian government spokesperson in his statement

The Canadian government has announced that it is banning TikTok on all government issued devices starting tomorrow. The decision comes after a detailed app review conducted by Canada’s chief information officer.

Talking about the situation, a Canadian Government spokesperson said that TikTok “presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security”.

Similar news about the ban of TikTok came from the US and Europe Union, both of which have also ordered a TikTok ban on government devices.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, while talking about the situation said that there were enough concerns around TikTok to force them towards making a decision.

“This may be the first step, this may be the only step we need to take,” said Trudeau in a statement.

TikTok, for a long while now, has been accused and reported for its use of personal information. The short form video application is criticised for having ties with the Chinese Government thus affecting national security.

With countless accusations of acquiring user data, TikTok is now banned on many university networks and even many countries including India.

Survey conducted by the Toronto Metropolitan University shows that a quarter of Canadian adults are using TikTok, however numbers are bound to go down as this news goes public.

According to news from a TikTok employee, the company is not happy about getting banned from government devices.

“We are always available to meet with our government officials to discuss how we protect the privacy and security of Canadians, but singling out TikTok in this way does nothing to achieve that shared goal,” said a TikTok spokesperson while talking about the ban.

“All it does is prevent officials from reaching the public on a platform loved by millions of Canadians” he added.