TikTok Urgently Pitches Canada Security Solution to Avoid Shutdown

TikTok offices in Singapore. Photo by Ore Huiying /Bloomberg

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(Bloomberg) — TikTok is trying to talk with Canada about security solutions that would spare the popular video app from a looming order to shut operations in the country.

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So far, its pleas have fallen on deaf ears, said Steve de Eyre, director of TikTok’s government affairs for Canada, in an interview. “We are still looking to get to the table,” he said.

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TikTok, owned by China-based ByteDance Ltd., started this month to freeze spending on cultural programs and sponsorships, following a November directive to close its Canadian unit, which cited national security concerns. TikTok would still be available on app stores for Canadians to use after the shutdown.

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“Time is running out,” de Eyre said, though the company declined to share its deadline. TikTok has challenged the order in court.

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TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew wrote to Industry Minister Melanie Joly on July 2 requesting an urgent in-person meeting within the next two weeks. 

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According to a copy of the letter seen by Bloomberg, he wrote: “The windup process is rapidly approaching a critical juncture where, unless you intervene, TikTok will be forced to fire all of its Canadian employees” as well as halting investment and support for creators. 

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De Eyre confirmed the contents of the letter, and said the company hasn’t yet received an official response. The Industry Ministry didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

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In other countries where it’s faced concerns, TikTok has set up systems to fence off user data to prevent it from being sent to China. These were dubbed Project Texas in the US and Project Clover in the EU.

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Asked if TikTok has pitched Canada an equivalent like “Project Maple,” de Eyre said: “Maybe it would be Project Maple. But we need to sit down, understand the concerns that Canada has, and we want to build a solution that would provide greater data security, greater oversight and accountability where there are these concerns.”

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In the UK, TikTok hired a British firm to audit its data controls and protections to allay concerns. 

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Right now, TikTok says it stores Canadian user data in the US, Ireland, Singapore and Malaysia. The company said it paid C$340 million ($248 million) in Canadian tax from 2019 to 2024, employs about 350 people across Toronto and Vancouver, and has 14 million Canadian users.

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“We’ve had people who have unfortunately left for other opportunities because of this order being out there, and we haven’t been able to rehire for those roles because of the order,” de Eyre said.

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He argued the ban was enacted by a different government, under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, “in a different time,” and that things have changed in the US, where Donald Trump has delayed a more comprehensive order for ByteDance to sell or shut down the app. Last month Trump said he’s found a buyer for the US operations. 

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The irony of Canada’s order if it goes through, de Eyre argues, is that the country loses “the accountability of having a TikTok entity within Canada’s legal jurisdiction, having employees who are directly accountable to parliament and regulators and law enforcement,” even though the app will remain available.

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