Beijing Could Exploit TikTok to Bolster Its Power, Says Canada’s Intelligence Agency in Declassified Document

The Beijing regime is potentially leveraging TikTok, the short video streaming application, to bolster its strength, Canada’s intelligence agency said in a document recently released publicly.
The 2022 document released to the Foreign Interference Commission shows the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) expressing concerns about the app’s collection of Western user data and its potential impact on democracy.
The redacted version of the top-secret document was released on Sept. 18 by the inquiry currently investigating foreign interference in Canada.
The Epoch Times reached out to TikTok Canada for comment but did not immediately hear back.
TikTok gathers a wide range of user information, including biometric data, location details, and device information. “TikTok [redacted] has access to a significant amount of user data that contains sensitive personal information,” CSIS wrote.
An example of this was during the 2022 U.S. midterm elections when ByteDance failed to remove 90 percent of disinformation ads, while other social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube successfully blocked the majority, CSIS said.
Amid these restrictions, TikTok is accelerating the transfer of its China-based employees to Canada and other overseas positions. Citing open-source information, CSIS noted that TikTok has posted hundreds of job openings in Canada. The agency also raised concerns about a TikTok subsidiary that opened an office in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto in late 2020.