TikTok partnerships plentiful in Canada amid bans, foreign interference accusations
BNN Bloomberg
In the halls of Parliament, TikTok is banned from civil servants' phones as the government grapples with allegations of foreign interference. But on Canada's red carpets and in sports arenas, the popular social media platform is still welcome.
The video-sharing app has served as the official voting platform for the Juno Awards' fan choice award, livestreamed the Osheaga music festival in Montreal and even emblazoned its logo across the helmets of Toronto Maple Leaf players for the last two seasons.
It's in the spotlight right now as a media partner of the Toronto International Film Festival. Last year, TikTok set up a recording booth along the event's main strip last year and had influencers host red carpets for the premieres of "Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery," "The Woman King" and "Bros."
But this year's iteration of TIFF will be unlike the last because Canada finds itself in a very different political climate, where TikTok is being treated with caution and in February was booted from federal devices. It’s also been the topic of an ongoing investigation from Canada's privacy commissioner and three provincial counterparts looking into whether the app complies with the country’s privacy legislation.
