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With all eyes on how a newfangled Trump organization in the U.S. will interface with China Tech in the years in the lead , its neighbour to the northward has leveled a snow to one of the biggest apps to come out of the country .
Canada hasorderedthe closure of ByteDance ’s surgical process in Canada — specifically the government agency of TikTok Technology Canada , Inc. — cite national security risk . Those risks do not poke out to the app itself : consumer can still download , use , and produce content for TikTok , and businesses can still advertise on it . “ The determination to use a social culture medium program or chopine is a personal choice , ” sound out François - Philippe Champagne , the nation ’s Minister of Innovation , Science and Industry , in a statement .
The statement did not specify more about the security measure risks . But the company has been under scrutiny for years over how it handles user data on the platform . critic allege multifariously that user data point is harvested by China and in ways that can not be fully audited . TikTok has repeatedly denied that this is the case .
The cloture impacts “ hundreds ” of job in Canada , TikTok articulate in a statement to TechCrunch . It plans to attract the decision .
“ Shutting down TikTok ’s Canadian offices and ruin hundreds of well - give local jobs is not in anyone ’s best interest , and today ’s shutdown ordering will do just that , ” a representative said in a statement . “ We will dispute this decree in court . The TikTok program will remain available for creators to find an interview , explore raw interestingness and for businesses to flourish . ”
The troupe had been charter most late for dozens of role acrossoperations , engineering , andmarketingin different locations in the area .
TikTok , by oneestimate , has around 15 million record users in Canada , working out to a penetration of about 41 % of the population . In line with how it ’s used elsewhere , among adults , those aged 18 to 24 are more engaged , agree toeMarketer . But that subject does not cover children , who as we know alsolove TikTok . It ’s a controversial take in itself due to concerns over children’smental health .
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Despite its mega popularity , TikTok has been simmer in hot pee in Canada for a while now . This tardy ontogeny is the result of a national security review under the “ Investment in Canada ” Act . That review was prompted after Canada banned the exercise of TikTok on all governing devices inFebruary 2023 . That ban stay on inviolate .
The party ’s precarious situation in the rural area may have also had an impact on how it has grow further services there . TikTok Shop , the company ’s in - app einsteinium - Department of Commerce weapons platform for sell and buying good , wasexpected to launchin Canada by the end of 2023 , but it hasyet to do so . TheCreator Rewards Program , for make up creators , also hasyet to launch there , too .
Canada is far from the only country take a shit efforts to draw rein in TikTok .
In addition to problems facingTikTok specifically in other countries , the app is also netted into a panoptic reassessment of societal medium in general . Justyesterday , the government in Australia announced a proposal to banallsocial media for users under the age of 16 .
International government attending around internal security and TikTok really got its start during the last Trump administration , when the president laid out a plan to banish the app in the country — where it now has 170 million user — unless its operations there were separate and sold to a U.S. entity . Four eld on , that case there is still ongoing , with TikTok appealing asigned orderto sell its U.S. app mathematical process by January 2025 .
It ’s anyone ’s infer what will happen next , since Trump , ironically , rescind class over the summer . “ I ’m for TikTok because you need contention , ” he said inJulyafter joining the app himself .