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The city of Edmonton has banned TikTok on all city-owned mobile devices.
In a memorandum to city council on March 7, Kevin McKay, the city’s acting director of financial and corporate services, said the decision to ban the app came following a review of the municipality’s cyber security, privacy and social media teams.
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“Although there has been no reported incidents of spying or information breaches resulting form the use of TikTok, the city is taking this proactive step to safeguard our IT assets and overall network security,” said McKay.
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McKay added that where possible, the city will restrict TikTok from being downloaded on city-owned devices and report on compliance when restriction is not possible. He added data security is a top priority and the city will take all necessary measures to ensure its integrity.
The decision came on the heels of the federal government and House of Commons’s decision in late February to ban the app from all government issued devices. All major political party leaders instructed members of the caucus to suspend all use of the app until further notice.
The video-focused social media platform has come under fire and increased scrutiny in Canada and other countries due to the Chinese government’s stake in the app’s owner, ByteDance, and Chinese law allows the country to demand access to user data.
When Alberta joined the feds in banning the app, Premier Danielle Smith, alongside Technology and Innovation Minister Nate Glubish, said it followed “an analysis of the risks presented by TikTok to government security and the integrity of government decision-making.”
Neighbouring municipalities like Calgary made a similar decision, banning TikTok and removing it from city devices beginning in March following a risk assessment.
