Is TikTok a risk to Canadian privacy? A federal committee wants to find out
Global News
The amended motion calls on the members to dig into TikTok and other social media platforms' use 'of private information of Canadians for the objective of data harvesting.'
A House of Commons committee voted on Wednesday to launch a study into TikTok, a popular social media app that’s come under scrutiny over its ties to the Chinese government, as well as other social media platforms.
The Liberal motion, which MP Iqra Khalid brought forward, was carried during a House of Commons ethics committee meeting on Tuesday — but only after an amendment was added.
The original motion called on the committee to focus solely on TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance Ltd., but NDP MP Matthew Green proposed an amendment to broaden that scope to include all social media platforms.
The amended motion, which was carried with unanimous support from all parties, calls on the members to dig into TikTok and other social media platforms’ involvement or use “of private information of Canadians for the objective of data harvesting.”
It would also look at “illicit sharing of personal information with foreign entities” and whether the “private information of Canadians is adequately protected and stored.”
As part of the study, which will span at least three meetings, the committee plans to invite witnesses from the Communications Security Establishment, key executives from ByteDance, as well as relevant cybersecurity experts and watchdogs.
The committee did not immediately settle on a start date for these meetings.
The move comes as the United States is considering legislation to ban the app amid fears it could be used to spy on Americans and censor content.