The country is mandating that the app be removed from all government devices.
The Canadian government has just announced that it is implementing at TikTok ban on all its government-issued devices as concerns continue to rise over privacy and security.
That said, the North American country is far from the only one to have made such a move.
It is becoming increasingly commonplace for governments worldwide to put a TikTok ban into place on their own devices or across their entire populations.
The app, which is owned by Bytedance, a company based in China, has long upheld that none of the data it collects is shared with the Chinese government and that any collected data is not stored within China. Moreover, it also denies accusations that it collects a larger amount of data than other social media platforms, insisting that it is independently operated by its own management.
However, many countries are erring to the side of caution when it comes to the video-sharing platform and its links with China. The remaining doubt is enough to also cause some governments to limit or entirely block the downloading and use of the application. Canada has become the latest to issue such a mandate, but it is far from alone.
There are several countries around the world that have issued a TikTok ban over security concerns.
India implemented its own measure on that app as well as WeChat in 2020 due to privacy and security concerns. This bans dozens of Chinese apps from the entire country. Taiwan added its name to the list in December 2022, when it issued a public sector regulation due to a warning from the FBI regarding a national security risk.
Pakistan has banned the app at least four times since October 2020 due to claims that it promotes immoral behavior and content. The Taliban leaders in Afghanistan banned both the app and the PUBG game in 2022, in an action they claim is meant to protect young people from “being misled.”
At the end of last month, the United States announced that government agencies have 30 days to delete the app from federal devices and systems due to security concerns. This is applicable only to government devices, though there is a growing push for a full TikTok ban.
Canada is also implementing a similar block on the app for all government-issued devices, saying that the application presents and “unacceptable” privacy and security risk. Employees are required to delete it and will be blocked from downloading it again.
In the European Union, the European Parliament, European Commission, and EU Council have all implemented a TikTok ban on all staff devices. In the case of the European Parliament, the regulation goes into effect on March 20. They have also issued a recommendation that staff also remove it voluntarily from personal devices.
