Ottawa's TikTok order sends mixed messages to users, experts say

The TikTok startup page is displayed on an iPhone in Ottawa, Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick)

By ordering TikTok to shut down its Canadian operations but not banning the app, digital media experts say the federal government is sending mixed messages that make it too hard for the average user to decide whether they should remain on the platform.

Richard Lachman says the government's messaging around the order was confusing because it conveyed to people that there is some trouble with TikTok, but didn't give them enough information to know how alarmed they should be about the social media platform.

Without knowing more about what concerned the government, the associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's Radio and Television Arts School of Media says all Canadians can do is make an uninformed decision.

Philip Mai, co-director of Toronto Metropolitan University's Social Media Lab, agrees. He says without knowing more about what worried the government, Canadians must treat TikTok use as a personal choice.

The federal government said Wednesday that it wants TikTok to close its Canadian operations because of national security risks but has yet to detail its specific concerns with the platform.

Lawmakers and security experts in other countries have feared TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance could be compelled to assist the organization's home country with intelligence gathering, putting other nations and their citizens at risk.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.