From TechCrunch: With all eyes on how a new Trump administration in the U.S. will interface with China Tech in the years ahead, its neighbor to the north has levelled a blow to one of the biggest apps to come out of the country.
Canada has ordered the closure of ByteDance’s operations in Canada — specifically the offices of TikTok Technology Canada, Inc. — citing national security risks. Those risks do not extend to the app itself: consumers can still download, use and create content for TikTok, and businesses can still advertise on it. “The decision to use a social media application or platform is a personal choice,” said François-Philippe Champagne, the country’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, in a statement.
The statement did not specify more about the security risks. But the company has been under scrutiny for years over how it handles user data on the platform. Critics allege variously that user data is harvested by China and in ways that cannot be fully audited. TikTok has repeatedly denied that this is the case.
The closure impacts “hundreds” of jobs in Canada, TikTok said in a statement to TechCrunch. It plans to appeal the decision.
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