Canada’s federal court has invalidated a government directive to cease operations of TikTok in Canada, allowing the popular short-form video app to continue its services for the time being. Federal court judge Russel Zinn issued a brief ruling on Wednesday, setting aside the shutdown order and referring the case back to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for further examination without providing specific reasons.
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 new national security review. Due to the confidentiality regulations of the Investment Canada Act, detailed comments on the review process were not provided.
TikTok expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision to set aside the closure order, with a company spokesperson informing Radio-Canada that they are looking forward to collaborating with Minister Joly to reach a resolution beneficial to the over 14 million Canadian TikTok users. The spokesperson emphasized that maintaining TikTok’s Canadian team would facilitate ongoing investments in Canada and the retention of hundreds of local jobs.
In November 2024, Canada’s industry ministry had directed the dissolution of TikTok’s operations in response to national security concerns, clarifying that access for users and content creation were not impeded. TikTok contested this directive.
Prime Minister Mark Carney has been advocating for stronger relations with China to mitigate the adverse effects of U.S. tariffs on the Canadian economy. Countries, including Canada, have been closely monitoring TikTok amid apprehensions that Beijing might exploit the app to gather user data or further its strategic interests, given that TikTok is under the ownership of the Chinese company ByteDance.
In a separate development, last September, TikTok committed to enhancing its safeguards to prevent minors from accessing its Canadian platform following an investigation that revealed shortcomings in its measures to restrict children’s access and safeguard personal data.