Ontario bans TikTok app from government-issued mobile devices

The Doug Ford government is banning the use of the social media app TikTok from government-owned mobile devices, following the lead of the federal government and other Canadian provinces.

Last month, the federal government banned the app from such devices days after federal and provincial privacy watchdogs launched an investigation into the Chinese-owned video-sharing platform, delving into how the app collects, uses, and discloses personal information.

On Thursday, Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, President of the Treasury Board, issued the following statement:

“Effective immediately, the Ontario government has started the removal of the social media application TikTok from all Ontario government-issued devices. Also effective immediately, all Ontario PC party caucus members will begin the removal of the application from all personal mobile devices. As part of this ban, government advertising campaigns will also be removed from TikTok.

“The decision to block the TikTok application from government-issued and personal devices is a proactive and precautionary approach to ensuring the protection of government data and networks.

“While no data breaches have occurred, our government takes all allegations and concerns about data integrity incredibly seriously.

“The government encourages Ontarians to review the terms and conditions of any application they use to ensure they are making an informed decision about how those tools use information.”

The decision followed a review by the chief information officer of Canada, who determined the platform posed an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”

Since then, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island have also banned the use of the app on government-owned devices, as well as Alberta, Quebec, Nunavut, and the Northwest Territories.

The British Columbia government also said it is temporarily banning the application “out of an abundance of caution.”

At the time, Ontario and Manitoba officials said they were considering taking similar action. The Manitoba government has since banned the app on government-owned devices as of March 6.

Outside of Canada, several other countries and regions have also implemented partial or total bans of TikTok, including the U.S., India, Taiwan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the European Union.

Ontario cites, police services banning TikTok

Some cities and police services across Ontario are also banning TikTok from work and government-owned devices, while others are considering it.

Officials with the City of Toronto say they have not decided whether to restrict the app on city-issued mobile devices but are monitoring the platform for cybersecurity risks.

A spokesperson for Hamilton said the city has kept its official TikTok account, which is not active and cannot be accessed by any city device, but removed the application from about 40 city-owned devices.

The City of London has also banned its employees from using TikTok on city-owned devices.

Niagara police said it asked its employees to remove TikTok from all service-issued devices earlier this month while it examines security concerns, but an official account that is only accessible to its communications unit remains active.

Waterloo police said its main account has also been paused and all members who have TikTok downloaded on their work phones have been directed to delete it pending reviews.