The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of the popular video app TikTok in September 2023, but did not publicly announce it.
“This is still an ongoing case. We are unable to comment further due to the confidentiality provisions of the Investment Canada Act,” said a spokesman for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne.
“Our government has never hesitated to take action when necessary when a case under review is found to impact Canada’s national security.”
The revelation comes after the US House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday banning TikTok unless the China-based owner sells its shares in the company.
Asked whether the Canadian government would consider a measure similar to the U.S. bill, Champagne’s office said the Liberal cabinet “issued an order for a national security review of TikTok Canada” on Sept. 6.
It said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the creation of a new Canadian company. It declined to provide further details about the planned expansion.
The office said the Cabinet regulation would not be accessible online as usual because the information is protected and confidential under the Investment Canada Act.
It suggested that TikTok would be subject to “increased scrutiny” under the law under a new policy on foreign investment in the interactive digital media sector that the government released earlier this month.
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This policy statement states: “Hostile, state-sponsored or influenced actors may seek to use foreign investment in the interactive digital media sector to spread disinformation or manipulate information in a manner detrimental to Canada’s national security.”
The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 after federal and state privacy commissioners launched their own investigation into the platform.
The Canadian review is not related to the U.S. bill, which is based on concerns that the company’s current ownership structure poses a threat to national security.
TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese technology company ByteDance Ltd.
U.S. lawmakers claim ByteDance is beholden to the Chinese government, which could demand access to TikTok’s U.S. consumers’ data in light of Chinese national security laws that force organizations to help gather information.
The bill still needs to pass the Senate, where lawmakers have said it will undergo thorough consideration. US President Joe Biden has said he will sign it if Congress passes the measure.
Nearly 30 percent of Canadian respondents to a Toronto Metropolitan University survey in October 2022 said they were on TikTok.
For many Canadian YouTubers who create TikTok content, the U.S. market is paramount, said Scott Benzie, executive director of Digital First Canada. The organization advocates for digital creators and has received funding from TikTok in the past.
“If a ban is actually enforced in the U.S., Canadian careers on TikTok will be over,” he said.
For YouTubers who make money through sponsorships, not only is audience reach lost, but “of course most of these brands want to connect with U.S. audiences, and if that’s not possible, the money just goes away.”
Nathan Kennedy, a personal finance content creator from Hamilton, Ontario, said he was “pretty calm” about the situation and pointed out that there have been threats to ban TikTok for years.
TikTok is its largest platform and most of its audience comes from the US. Two and a half years ago, he became a full-time content creator.
“You just have to be balanced about the whole thing… I literally can’t do anything. This doesn’t even exist in my country,” he said.
He said it was hard to believe that a ban would actually occur that would result in TikTok leaving the US
But if the hypothetical worst-case scenario occurs, Kennedy said he would turn to other platforms.
“People will watch content. That won’t change. That’s where they look at their content, which can change over time,” he said.
“I don’t want to give the impression that I’m very casual. But it’s one of those things that you have to accept that it’s not your platform and it’s not your business. And you kind of have to go where the attention is.”
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press