Ontario bans TikTok on government devices

Ontario is banning and removing social media app TikTok from government-owned devices, as reported by The Canadian Press. The government is also prohibiting the app from personal devices owned by Progressive Conservative Party caucus members.

The province is the last one in Canada to make the decision after the federal government banned the app on government devices last week. The move followed a review by Canada’s chief information officer.

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Government advertising campaigns will also be halted on TikTok, says Ontario Treasury Board President Prabmeet Sarkaria.

The controversy over TikTok stems from the fact that the Chinese-owned company, ByteDance, is subject to that country’s laws, which allows the government to demand access to user data. The Chinese government recently acquired a stake in ByteDance. The company claims that it does not share any data with China’s government, and that all data is held outside of the country.