TORONTO — The City of Toronto says it is removing and banning the social media app TikTok from roughly 350 city-issued devices.
The city says the move is a precautionary measure in response to recent concerns surrounding the app and there have been no security or privacy breaches.
Toronto’s decision Friday comes after Ontario banned TikTok on government-owned devices and on the personal devices of Progressive Conservative Party caucus members.
The city says in a release that the decision is in line with federal, provincial and municipal partners and was made in consultation with its technology services division, chief information security officer and senior leadership.
Toronto joins a growing number of cities and police forces across Ontario that are following the federal government’s lead in banning the app from work devices.
The Chinese government has a stake in TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, and Chinese laws allow the country to demand access to user data but the company maintains that it does not share data with Beijing.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.
