TikTok banned on government-issued devices: How party leaders are responding

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has shut down his account on the social media app TikTok, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is 'taking a pause' from posting, following the news the federal government is banning the hugely popular app on government-issued phones.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has shut down his account on the social media app TikTok, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is “taking a pause” from posting, following the news the federal government is banning the hugely popular app on government-issued phones.

Treasury Board President Mona Fortier, whose department oversees the public service, announced Monday that the app would no longer be allowed on government devices due to cybersecurity concerns.

All House of Commons devices will have to do away with the app as of March 3, according to a spokesperson for the Speaker’s Office. Otherwise, they “will no longer be able to access parliamentary infrastructure or internal digital services.”

Poilievre has been very active on social media platforms in the last year — since he announced his intention to run for the party’s leadership — and uses them largely to speak directly to his base through his widely viewed and shared videos.

Poilievre has now scrapped his TikTok account, where he had more than 236,000 followers, entirely. That’s compared to his 279,000 YouTube subscribers, and 587,000 Twitter followers.

“Conservatives take seriously all threats to privacy and security from foreign authoritarian regimes and will always defend the individual privacy rights of Canadians,” wrote Sebastian Skamski, a spokesperson for Poilievre’s office, in an email to CTV News.

“The Leader and all Conservative caucus members will suspend their TikTok accounts and work with all parties to ensure our parliament is protected.”