TikTok Fights Order to Shut Down Operations in Canada

TikTok is taking the Canadian government to court.

Last month, the popular social media app was ordered by the federal government to "wind down" its operations in Canada following a national security review.

"We will challenge this order in court," TikTok said at the time.

Now, the company is following through on the promise.

TikTok Canada has filed notice of application for judicial review, which is an official legal challenge to the decision.

"This order would eliminate the jobs and livelihoods of our hundreds of dedicated local employees - who support the community of more than 14 million monthly Canadian users on TikTok, including businesses, advertisers, creators, and initiatives developed especially for Canada," the company wrote on its official website. "We believe it's in the best interest of Canadians to find a meaningful solution and ensure that a local team remains in place, alongside the TikTok platform."

TikTok posted the whole legal filing on its website, which you can read here. The document breaks down the order of events, suggesting TikTok cooperated with the security review but was surprised by the abrupt announcement.

The company is requesting a court date to challenge the decision in Vancouver, B.C., one of the two locations of its offices. The other is in Toronto.

The filing calls the order "grossly disproportionate" and says it "will result in the termination of hundreds of employees in Canada and the potential termination of over 250,000 contracts with Canadian-based advertisers."

In Canada, a major part of TikTok's operations revolve around music and it has a number of initiatives to support local creators. In April, the company launched a weekly music chart measuring viral songs on the platform in Canada.

The legal filing also focuses on the impact to those creators who use the platform, stating that the order "will cause the destruction of significant economic opportunities and intangible benefits to Canadian creators, artists and businesses, and the Canadian cultural community more broadly."

The federal government made the decision to shut down TikTok's Canadian operations following a review of its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd., calling the operation "injurious to national security." Canadian users would still be able to use and access TikTok, but the company would be forced to close its offices in Canada.

The filing follows a new law in the United States that would require ByteDance to divest TikTok by January 19, 2025 or face a ban in the country. ByteDance yesterday (Dec. 9) asked for an emergency halt on the ban.

More on this story as it develops.