TikTok takes Canada to court over dissolution order

TikTok, the popular video-sharing platform owned by Chinese tech firm ByteDance Ltd., has launched a legal challenge against a Canadian government order requiring the company to shut down its operations in the country, according to reports.

The directive, issued last month following a national security review, instructed TikTok Technology Canada Inc. to wind up and cease doing business in Canada. TikTok contends that the government’s move is unjustified and disproportionate, and that it will inflict significant economic harm.

In an application for judicial review filed with the Federal Court in Vancouver on December 5, TikTok argues that Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s decision was “unreasonable,” “driven by improper purposes,” and “procedurally unfair.”

The company’s submission, made public online, asserts that the government order lacks a rational connection to the stated national security concerns and fails to provide a clear or logically consistent justification.

Although Canada’s federal government is not preventing individual Canadians from accessing the TikTok app—still used by an estimated 14 million people, nearly one-third of the country’s population—the forced dissolution would, according to TikTok, lead to hundreds of job losses in its Toronto and Vancouver offices, destroy existing business contracts, and stifle significant economic opportunities.

The Canadian government ordered the dissolution under provisions of the Investment Canada Act, which allows scrutiny and potential action against foreign investments deemed a threat to national security.

TikTok, which shifted its global headquarters to Singapore in 2020, now faces heightened scrutiny not only in Canada, but also in Europe and the United States, where lawmakers have contemplated similar bans due to concerns over data security, misinformation campaigns, and foreign influence.