The EU and parts of the US are already blocking access to the Chinese-owned app amid concerns over data privacy and security
Canada has announced it is banning TikTok from all government-issued mobile devices, reflecting widening worries from western officials over the Chinese-owned video sharing app.
Justin Trudeau, the Canadian prime minister, said there may or may not be further steps. “I suspect that as government takes the significant step of telling all federal employees that they can no longer use TikTok on their work phones, many Canadians from business to private individuals will reflect on the security of their own data and perhaps make choices,” Trudeau said.
“I’m always a fan of giving Canadians the information for them to make the right decisions for them.”
The European Union’s executive branch said last week it had temporarily banned TikTok from phones used by employees as a cybersecurity measure.
The EU’s action follows similar moves in the US, where more than half of the states and Congress have banned TikTok from official government devices.
Last week, Canada’s federal privacy watchdog and its provincial counterparts in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec announced an investigation of whether the app complies with Canadian privacy legislation.
