Canada’s federal court has nullified a government directive to shut down TikTok’s operations in Canada, allowing the popular short-form video platform to continue its services for the time being. Federal court judge Russel Zinn, in a brief ruling on Wednesday, revoked the closure order and referred the case back to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for further examination without providing detailed rationale.
A representative from Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada informed CBC News via email that the matter has been returned to the minister for a fresh national security evaluation, as per the court’s decision. The spokesperson also mentioned that due to the confidentiality stipulations of the Investment Canada Act, no additional comments could be made on the ongoing review.
TikTok expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision to set aside the shutdown order, as conveyed by a company spokesperson to Radio-Canada later on Wednesday. The spokesperson expressed eagerness to collaborate with the minister in reaching a resolution that serves the best interests of the over 14 million Canadians actively using TikTok. Maintaining TikTok’s Canadian workforce intact is seen as pivotal for sustaining investments worth millions in Canada and securing numerous local job opportunities.
In November 2024, Canada’s industry ministry had mandated the dissolution of TikTok’s operations citing national security concerns, clarifying that access to the app and content creation by users were not being restricted. TikTok contested this decision through an appeal process.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been exploring stronger ties with China to mitigate the adverse effects of U.S. tariffs on the Canadian economy. Various countries, including Canada, have been closely monitoring TikTok amid apprehensions that Beijing might exploit the app for data collection or furthering its strategic goals, given that TikTok is under the ownership of Chinese firm ByteDance.
In response to scrutiny, last September, TikTok committed to enhancing its safeguards to prevent children from accessing its platform in Canada and to bolster the protection of users’ personal information following an investigation that revealed shortcomings in these areas.