Trudeau banned TikTok to limit media reach of opposition: Report
A latest Reuters report has linked Canada's ban on the Chinese-owned TikTok app to the existing rivalry between the ruling party and opposition parties in reaching a greater number of the constituents.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government banned TikTok on government-issued devices due to security concerns, fearing that users' data on the app could end up in the wrong hands.
Reuters reported on Friday that the TikTok ban for government-issued devices looked set to hurt the leaders of the country's two main opposition parties, who have used the app more actively than the ruling Liberals to win over supporters.
The leaders of the two main opposition parties - Pierre Poilievre, leader of the Conservative Party, and New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh - are among politicians who actively use TikTok to reach their constituents.
Due to Trudeau's negligible presence on TikTok and the opposition parties' huge following there, the move has been viewed by experts as a problem created by the government to curb the reach of opposition parties.
"Any limitation on social media is a problem for any opposition politician," Nik Nanos of Nanos Research told Reuters, saying they do not have the incumbent advantage of being featured regularly on more traditional media outlets.
In the meantime, TikTok is facing a growing backlash from the West where leaders are concerned about whether users’ data could be used by China to advance its interests. However, Beijing has repeatedly denied having such objectives.
Meanwhile, leftists believe the move is part of the West's anti-China campaign presently executed by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), Canada’s premier intelligence agency.
The leftist analysts believe the CSIS' move has two purposes. First, to demonize China in furtherance of the US-led, Canada-supported, Western campaign against Beijing; and second, to destabilize and push the Trudeau government further towards the rightists.
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