Nova Scotia latest jurisdiction to ban TikTok on government-issued wireless devices
HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government has banned the use of TikTok on government-issued mobile devices, adding to a growing list of jurisdictions that have placed restrictions on the Chinese social media network.
The video-sharing platform has come under increased scrutiny in Canada and elsewhere as the Chinese government has a stake in its owner ByteDance and Chinese laws allow the state to demand access to user data.
Quebec imposed a TikTok ban on government devices on Tuesday, following a similar decree from Ottawa the previous day.
The United States announced Monday that all government agencies have 30 days to wipe TikTok from federal devices and systems, and several other countries have since followed suit, including India, Taiwan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, as well as the European Union.
In Nova Scotia, the provincial government issued a statement saying TikTok’s data collection methods provide significant access to data on mobile devices, leaving users “vulnerable to surveillance.”
Service Nova Scotia Minister Colton LeBlanc said it does not require the TikTok app to be on government-issued devices.
“There are also concerns about the legal system that governs the information being collected,” LeBlanc said. “Currently, there is no evidence that foreign actors have compromised government information.”
Officials in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador have confirmed they are considering a similar ban on TikTok.
The federal ban in Canada has prompted some scientists to suggest companies should reconsider their own privacy policies and potentially block the app.
University of Ottawa law professor Vivek Krishnamurthy says companies should conduct a risk assessment of how exposed they might be to TikTok.
Brett Caraway, a professor of media economics at the University of Toronto, says companies should be wary of the Chinese-owned video-sharing app if their employees deal with intellectual property, patents and trade secrets.
The Chinese company that owns TikTok has long claimed that it does not share data with the Chinese government and that its data is not stored in China. It has also denied allegations that it collects more user data compared to other social media companies.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on March 1, 2023.
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