The Guardian-Canada conducts national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok
March 15, 2024 2 min 294 words
加拿大对中国所有的TikTok进行国家安全审查，这一举动显然是基于对数字媒体的担忧和对国家安全的保护。审查自去年9月开始，表明政府对此事严肃对待。与此同时，加拿大政府也表示将密切关注美国国内针对TikTok的立法动向。这种审查与美国针对TikTok的立法不同，但都反映了对于数字平台安全的共同关切。面对这一局势，加拿大政府需审慎权衡利弊，确保国家信息安全，同时也需要平衡创新发展和国际合作。在数字时代，国家安全不仅仅是军事安全，还包括信息安全，这种审查也是加强数字领域治理的一种尝试。
Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.
In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September 2023.
“We have launched a national security review [of TikTok],” he told reporters.
“Once we have completed that,” he said, “we’ll inform Canadians about any actions that we decide to take with respect to that particular topic.
“I’ll have more to say when our review is completed,” the minister added without saying when that would be.
Champagne noted a March 2023 announcement that foreign investments in Canada’s interactive digital media sector would face “intense scrutiny”.
Those found to be “propagating disinformation or manipulating information in a manner that is injurious to Canada’s national security” could face mitigation measures or even a ban, according to the policy statement.
The Canadian review is not related to a proposed US bill that would force its Chinese owners to sell or see it banned in the United States.
That bill is partly fuelled by concerns over Chinese national security laws that compel organizations to assist with intelligence gathering.
TikTok is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Chinese technology firm ByteDance Ltd.
“We’re watching, of course, the debate going on in the United States,” the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said on Thursday after the US House of Representatives passed the bill, which still needs approval from the Senate.
Ottawa banned TikTok from federal government mobile devices in February 2023.