Canada’s federal court has reversed a government directive to shut down TikTok’s operations in Canada, allowing the popular short-form video app to continue its services. Federal court judge Russel Zinn made a brief ruling on Wednesday, setting aside the closure order and referring the issue back to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for further examination without providing specific reasons.
TikTok expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision to halt the shutdown order, as conveyed by a company spokesperson in an interview with Radio-Canada on Wednesday afternoon. The spokesperson mentioned the company’s readiness to collaborate with the minister to find a resolution that benefits the millions of Canadians actively using TikTok. Maintaining TikTok’s Canadian workforce intact is seen as crucial for sustaining substantial investments in Canada and preserving numerous local job opportunities.
In November 2024, Canada’s industry ministry had mandated the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian operations, citing national security concerns. However, the government clarified that access to the app and users’ content creation abilities were not being restricted. TikTok promptly contested the directive, leading to the recent court decision.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been advocating for stronger ties with China to mitigate the adverse impacts of U.S. tariffs on the Canadian economy. Countries, including Canada, have been closely monitoring TikTok due to apprehensions that Beijing may exploit the app to gather user data or further its own agenda, given that TikTok is under the ownership of Chinese company ByteDance.
Moreover, TikTok had previously committed to enhancing its safeguards to prevent children from accessing its platform in Canada following an investigation that revealed deficiencies in its child protection and data privacy measures in September.