The Canadian government insists that closing TikTok Canada is about security, but Digital First Canada sees it as an attack on Canadian jobs.
Last week, while many were horrified at the results of the US election, the Canadian government quietly announced that they would be forcing the shut down of TikTok Canada. The government argued that the TikTok app collects too much personal information, but instead of banning the app, they chose to shut down TikTok’s Canadian office while leaving the app accessible. It’s a truly bizarre move that no one, including myself, could make any sense of.
In response to the move, TikTok has released a statement saying that they plan on taking the Canadian government to court over the move:
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. We will challenge this order in court. The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.
Digital First Canada, an organization that represents Canadian creators, has also shot back at the move and challenged the notion that TikTok Canada doesn’t employ Canadians. From their statement:
Late Wednesday, November 7, the Government of Canada announced that it was ordering TikTok’s offices in Canada to shut down after a “national security review”. While the Government has indicated the app will remain available in Canada and Canadian creators will continue to be able to upload content to TikTok, it means that TikTok will no longer be able to offer local support for the Digital Creator community.
Digital First Canada is deeply disappointed in this seemingly arbitrary decision. While we appreciate that some have concerns regarding TikTok, user data and foreign interference, closing TikTok’s Canadian offices does not in any way address these concerns and only harms the Digital Creator community. Further, the Government’s assertion that this decision only affects TikTok employees, “most of whom aren’t Canadian citizens”, is completely untrue, as we all know many Canadians working at TikTok and the decision directly affects all Canadian creators on TikTok. In our view, this calls the entire factual basis for this decision into serious question.
TikTok Canada has rejected the Government’s allegations and will be challenging the Government’s shut-down order in court. In the meantime, it is important that the Canadian digital creator community ensure the Government understands that this decision will negatively impact Canadian creators.
The responses are not really surprising. Nothing about the move by the Canadian government really makes any sense at all. All it does is harm Canadian creators and target Canadian jobs in the process.
What’s more, this seems to be a continuation of the Canadian governments war on Canadian creators. For instance, the Online Streaming Act has largely been aimed at harming digital first creators while propping up legacy media in the process. In the last several years, online efforts have been the single most promising aspect of growth for Canadian creators. Rather than adapt to a modern age, the Canadian government seems to be more interested in punishing those who innovate and trying to keep the past up and running regardless of what content Canadian’s end up consuming.
If the Canadian government was hoping to dispel the accusations that they are at war with Canadian creators, the move to order the shut down of TikTok Canada is doing nothing to dispel that. If anything, it reinforces the idea that the Canadian government is wanting to torpedo the careers of hundreds of careers because they think that it’s better to keep CTV in business no matter how many people have stopped watching that TV channel.
If anything, all this effort of shuttering TikTok Canada screams how unnecessary this conflict is in the first place. After all, whenever TikTok files their court challenge, it’s going to invariably cost taxpayers money to hire lawyers to defend this indefensible move. Why? Because the Canadian government has a big interest in killing little Timmy’s TikTok channel after it started getting an audience. Seriously, why? There isn’t even any perceivable political advantage to doing this in the first place.
The Canadian government should be going back and taking another look at this decision and asking themselves, “what were we even thinking?” Unfortunately, the only likely thing I see is the Canadian government doubling down on this stupid and unnecessary decision. So, the Canadian government is shooting themselves in the foot again in the end.
