China Using TikTok To Spy On Canadians – Intelligence Chief Warns

International News Regarding The TikTok Issue In Canada – CSIS Director Warns That China Using TikTok To Spy On Canadians

In some of his most hawkish comments to date, the head of Canada’s intelligence agency has warned Canadians, including minors, not to use the immensely popular video app TikTok.

“My answer as director of [the Canadian Security Intelligence Service] is that there is a very clear strategy on the part of the government of China… to be able to acquire… personal information from anyone around the world,” said CSIS director David Vigneault in an interview with CBC’s The House airing Saturday.

He again added that, he would not recommend the usage of TikTok in Canada.

His remarks came a week after CSIS issued an annual report warning of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expanding extraterritorial reach.

According to the article, China’s president has proposed rules that would allow Beijing to manage data in China, as well as broad legislation requiring Chinese individuals wherever in the globe to assist and collaborate with China’s intelligence services.

According to Vigneault, the app’s design makes it “very clear” that data collected from users “is available to the government of China.”

“Most people can say, ‘Why is it a huge concern for a teenager now to have their data [on TikTok]?’ Well, in five or ten years, that teenager will be a young adult, participating in various activities all across the world,” he informed host Catherine Cullen.

“If you are, for whatever reason, getting in the crosshairs of the [People’s Republic of China], they will have a lot of information about you.”

Vigneault is the latest Western official to express alarm about TikTok putting sensitive user data in the hands of the Chinese authorities.

ByteDance, TikTok’s parent business, has also been accused of contributing to the development of China’s system for clamping down on the Uyghur minority, as well as targeting demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Critics believe China will continue to use TikTok’s content recommendations to disseminate misinformation and suppress dissent.

Vigeault refrained from openly suggesting that the Canadian government prohibit TikTok if it does not cease links with the Chinese government.

Last November, the Liberal government commissioned a national security examination of TikTok. In March, a spokesperson for Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne stated that the government may take action “if a case under review is found to be injurious to Canada’s national security.”

Vigneault said he’ll participate in the review and provide suggestions.

READ ALSO; Heavy Storms Slam Houston – Four Declared Dead In Texas