Liberals reveal secret TikTok national security review began in September 2023
'This is still an ongoing case. We can't comment further because of the confidentiality provisions,' a spokesperson for Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne said.
The Trudeau Liberals conducted a secret national security review of TikTok in September 2023, according to a new report. News of the investigation by Canadian officials comes after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill demanding the China-based owner sell its stake in the popular social media app — or else face a ban in the country.
TikTok is wholly owned by a subsidiary of Chinese tech firm ByteDance Ltd.
Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne's office says the order for a national security review of TikTok was delivered from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet on September 6, according to The Canadian Press.
The RCMP is investigating the Service à la Famille Chinoise du Grand Montréal (SFCGM) and Centre Sino-Québec over suspicions they front as 'secret police stations' for China.
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The national security review decision was linked to the expansion of a previously-existing business, the outlet reported. Generally, cabinet orders are posted online; in this instance, however, the information was protected under the Investment Canada Act.
“This is still an ongoing case. We can't comment further because of the confidentiality provisions” a spokesperson for Industry Minister Champagne told CP. The app would face “enhanced scrutiny” due to recent policies on foreign investments in the digital media sector unveiled by the Trudeau Liberals.
“Recognizing that hostile state-sponsored or influenced actors may seek to leverage foreign investments in the interactive digital media sector to propagate disinformation or manipulate information in a manner that is injurious to Canada's national security,” reads the March 1 announcement, “this policy provides guidance on the review of such investments under the Act.”
The Republican-led House of Representatives approved a bill on Wednesday that sets the stage for a potential ban on TikTok in the United States, unless the app's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests its stake in the hugely popular platform.
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If the U.S. bill passes through the Senate, President Joe Biden has suggested he will sign it into law. Canada would likely then follow suit, a tech expert told CTV News.
“The last thing that you want, especially considering our proximity to the U.S. economy, is to be next to a jurisdiction where this is happening and be completely out of sync with them,” Carmi Levy said. “We can't afford to be out of sync with them on issues of digital policy that are this important.”
In the U.S., federal employees, along with those in 34 of 50 states, have been already been banned from using TikTok on government devices. This February, Canada barred the app from government devices, too.
Several other countries, including Five Eyes allies Australia, New Zealand and Britain, have taken similar actions.
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