Canada’s federal agency in charge of communications security continued to use China’s TikTok for advertising beyond Feb. 28, the day the government banned the video hosting service on its devices over security concerns. Four other federal agencies also continued TikTok advertising.
In an Inquiry of Ministry tabled in the House of Commons on May 8, the agencies said a third-party agency managed the campaigns, using their devices to access TikTok.
The federal government announced on Feb. 27 that it is banning TikTok on government devices due to security issues. The provinces announced similar bans shortly thereafter.
Canada’s Communications Security Establishment (CSE) spent nearly $33,000 on TikTok advertising in March, on a campaign about online disinformation. It spent more than twice as much in the month after the ban as it did in the whole year leading up to it….