TikTok's future in Canada is at risk after the government ordered the short-video app to shut down its business in the country.
According to Reuters, the Canadian government on Wednesday, November 6, 2024, ordered the Chinese-owned social media app to dissolve its local business, citing national security risks.
However, the citizens of Canada can still access the app and can create content.
Innovation Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said in a statement, “The government is taking action to address the specific national security risks related to ByteDance Ltd's operations in Canada through the establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.”
“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada's security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he further added.
Moreover, Canada in 2023 started reviewing ByteDance-owned TikTok plans of investing and expanding its business in the country.
Notably, under Canadian law, the government could review threats to national security from foreign investments. But under the law, the government is not allowed to reveal details of such investments.
Meanwhile, a TikTok spokesperson argued, “Shutting down TikTok's Canadian offices and destroying hundreds of well-paying local jobs is not in anyone's best interest, and today's shutdown order will do just that.”
To note, TikTok filed a lawsuit in the US federal court in May 224 after President Biden signed a law that gave ByteDance a deadline of January 19, 2025, to sell TikTok or face a ban.
