TikTok has challenged the federal government’s order to shut down its Canadian operations in court.
TikTok Technology Canada filed a notice of application for a judicial review in Vancouver’s Federal Court on Dec. 5. According to the document, TikTok is asking for the order to be set aside or sent back to the Governor in Council, and for the order to be paused while it looks to overturn it.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry François-Philippe Champagne issued an order on Nov. 5 for TikTok Canada, a subsidiary of Beijing-based and Cayman Islands-incorporated ByteDance, to wind up its Canadian operations. In a statement, Champagne said the order was given “on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners.”
Use of the app itself has not been blocked in Canada, allowing Canadians to continue viewing and posting short-form videos.
In the filing, TikTok Canada argues the conclusion that the platform is a national security risk “was not transparent, intelligible or justified and was therefore unreasonable.”
It also claims Champagne breached TikTok Canada’s rights to “procedural fairness” by “failing to substantially engage” in the national security review and “abruptly” concluding it in October.
According to a release from TikTok, the closure of its operations would eliminate hundreds of jobs supporting the more than 14 million monthly Canadian users on the platform. The application cites the “potential termination” of more than 250,000 contracts with Canadian advertisers.
“The government’s decision regarding TikTok’s operations was informed by a thorough national security review and advice from Canada’s security and intelligence community. While we respect the legal process, we stand by our decision to prioritize Canadians’ safety and security. Due to confidentiality provisions under the Investment Canada Act, we cannot comment further,” a spokesperson for Champagne told Playback Daily.
The Investment Canada Act allows the government to investigate any foreign investment that it deems has the potential to harm national security. TikTok Canada argues that “less onerous” options were available under the Act, “including the imposition of terms and conditions on the investment.”
TikTok has two offices in Canada, one in Toronto and one in Vancouver, where the company has requested its application be heard and where it is incorporated under provincial law. TikTok also runs a Creative Lab out of Canada, which is an in-house creative consultancy for agencies and high-profile TikTok accounts.
Earlier this month, a U.S. Federal Court of Appeals panel upheld a law requiring TikTok to break ties with ByteDance or be banned by mid-January.
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