Canadian Authorities to Ban TikTok (the Firm not the App)

The Canadian authorities has simply introduced the conclusion of its national security review of TikTok and arrived at a curious conclusion: it plans to ban the corporate from working in Canada however the app will stay out there right here. I wrote earlier this yr in regards to the want for higher legal guidelines to counter the dangers related to TikTok, quite than banning the app altogether. That submit got here in response to U.S. laws that proposed to ban the app, however which is now in doubt given the outcomes of yesterday’s U.S. Presidential election. There could be good causes to ban the app if it poses safety and privateness dangers that differ from these of different platforms, however banning the corporate quite than the app may very well make issues worse for the reason that dangers related to the app will stay however the skill to carry the corporate accountable will likely be weakened.

The choice would additionally appear to undercut the federal government’s digital insurance policies, together with the On-line Streaming Act (Invoice C-11) and the On-line Harms Act (Invoice C-63).  TikTok appeared earlier than the Ethics Committee late final month on disinformation, intervened at the CRTC on the implementation of the On-line Streaming Act, and would presumably have performed a task in hearings on on-line harms (if these happen). Nothing stops the corporate from submitting to those processes from exterior of the nation, however it’s laborious to check it prioritizing (or maybe even complying) with Canadian regulatory processes whether it is banned from formally working within the jurisdiction. Furthermore, TikTok will doubtless promote that it has spent vital cash on Canadian cultural coverage initiatives, with a selected deal with music and indigenous creators. Very like the Meta withdrawal from information and its related agreements, it’s equally unlikely it can proceed to offer that help in gentle of the company ban.

If there are actual safety and privateness points – and Minister Champagne says there are – the federal government ought to absolutely take motion. However as Ron Deibert of the Citizen Lab noted final yr in calling out TikTok’s use of his lab’s analysis:

The dialog about potential privateness and nationwide safety considerations with TikTok ought to function a reminder that most social media apps are unacceptably invasive-by-design, deal with customers as uncooked materials for private information surveillance, and fall brief on transparency about their information sharing practices. Because of this complete privateness laws is desperately wanted.

The federal government’s efforts to offer complete privateness safeguards have stalled within the Home of Commons and now face the prospect of not passing earlier than an election name. That is due partly to the ill-advised determination to mix long-overdue privateness reforms with AI regulation. Right this moment’s announcement doesn’t clear up the bigger privateness problem going through Canadians and should sarcastically make issues worse by weakening the power to carry TikTok accountable for the privateness and safety of Canadians.