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To be clear, they're not banning the app, they're banning ByteDance from having offices in Canada

throw310822 2y ago
But what's the point? It's more common for a government to force companies to have an office in the country to exercise political or legal control (see for example recent news about Twitter's Brazil office). Why banning them from having one?
outside1234 2y ago
What is the strategy here? Why does banning ByteDance from having offices in Canada do anything?
- AnotherGoodName 2y ago
  Could it be the start of a series of legislation to make it impossible to operate the app which would be more palatable to the public than a ban? 1: Ban presence in the country 2: Add data provision requirements that personal information be stored in the country. 3: TikTok can’t meet requirements? Well that’s on them, guess they can’t operate here.
  - dylan604 2y ago
    What if ByteDance operating outside of Canada stores the data in ca-central-1?
- alephnerd 2y ago
  > What is the strategy here 1. Show the current government is doing something after the CSE said the Canadian government has been breached by China's MSS [0] 2. A response to China for breaching Canada's systems. 3. A way to get a quick win to make bipartisan China hawks across the border in the US happy. [0] - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-cyber-threats-china-1.7367719 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-cyber-threats-china-1.7...
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
A_D_E_P_T 2y ago
Isn't it all rather self-defeating, then? ByteDance will keep no data in Canada, will not employ any Canadians, will not report any information to Canadian authorities, and will have no reason to comply with Canadian warrants or court orders. (Or even judgments.) At the same time, all Canadians can continue to use the app. On balance, this seems bad for Canada and great for ByteDance.
- dmix 2y ago
  > On balance, this seems bad for Canada and great for ByteDance. It's hard to balance anything until they explain why they did it. So far they claim they aren't at liberty to share but claim it was bad enough to make a very unprecedented move like this.
- parl_match 2y ago
  It goes both ways. ... and Bytedance will not have any recourse if Canada bans the app.
- scosman 2y ago
  "We came to the conclusion that these activities that were conducted in Canada by TikTok and their offices would be injurious to national security," Really not saying anything, but that's the line they are going with.
  - gruez 2y ago
    What do they think is happening inside TikTok offices? It's not like they're embassies filled with spies.
    - llm_nerd 2y ago
      Why couldn't it be? Canada has an extremely generous, massively exploited foreign worker program (it is actually one of the reasons this government is profoundly unpopular). ByteDance, like every other company, can unilaterally declare that they need to bring in an entirely foreign staff and get it rubber stamped. Given the company's alleged closeness with the party, using it as an easy vehicle to drop loads of intelligence workers of various sorts in Canada would be logical. Similarly China has a thing with running intimidation tactics against Chinese ex-pats living in Western countries.
jimmydoe 2y ago
Can .ca App Store still offer the app legally if no biz entity operating in Canada? If no, then it's the same as ban the app
- madeofpalk 2y ago
  Most app developers don't have legal entities in all the countries their app is distributed. Apple is the merchant of record for apps sold and distributed through its app store.

But what's the point? It's more common for a government to force companies to have an office in the country to exercise political or legal control (see for example recent news about Twitter's Brazil office). Why banning them from having one?

outside1234 2y ago

What is the strategy here? Why does banning ByteDance from having offices in Canada do anything?

AnotherGoodName 2y ago
Could it be the start of a series of legislation to make it impossible to operate the app which would be more palatable to the public than a ban? 1: Ban presence in the country 2: Add data provision requirements that personal information be stored in the country. 3: TikTok can’t meet requirements? Well that’s on them, guess they can’t operate here.
- dylan604 2y ago
  What if ByteDance operating outside of Canada stores the data in ca-central-1?
alephnerd 2y ago
> What is the strategy here 1. Show the current government is doing something after the CSE said the Canadian government has been breached by China's MSS [0] 2. A response to China for breaching Canada's systems. 3. A way to get a quick win to make bipartisan China hawks across the border in the US happy. [0] - https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-cyber-threats-china-1.7367719 https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cse-cyber-threats-china-1.7...
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

A_D_E_P_T 2y ago

Isn't it all rather self-defeating, then? ByteDance will keep no data in Canada, will not employ any Canadians, will not report any information to Canadian authorities, and will have no reason to comply with Canadian warrants or court orders. (Or even judgments.) At the same time, all Canadians can continue to use the app. On balance, this seems bad for Canada and great for ByteDance.

dmix 2y ago
> On balance, this seems bad for Canada and great for ByteDance. It's hard to balance anything until they explain why they did it. So far they claim they aren't at liberty to share but claim it was bad enough to make a very unprecedented move like this.
parl_match 2y ago
It goes both ways. ... and Bytedance will not have any recourse if Canada bans the app.
scosman 2y ago
"We came to the conclusion that these activities that were conducted in Canada by TikTok and their offices would be injurious to national security," Really not saying anything, but that's the line they are going with.
- gruez 2y ago
  What do they think is happening inside TikTok offices? It's not like they're embassies filled with spies.
  - llm_nerd 2y ago
    Why couldn't it be? Canada has an extremely generous, massively exploited foreign worker program (it is actually one of the reasons this government is profoundly unpopular). ByteDance, like every other company, can unilaterally declare that they need to bring in an entirely foreign staff and get it rubber stamped. Given the company's alleged closeness with the party, using it as an easy vehicle to drop loads of intelligence workers of various sorts in Canada would be logical. Similarly China has a thing with running intimidation tactics against Chinese ex-pats living in Western countries.

jimmydoe 2y ago

Can .ca App Store still offer the app legally if no biz entity operating in Canada? If no, then it's the same as ban the app

madeofpalk 2y ago
Most app developers don't have legal entities in all the countries their app is distributed. Apple is the merchant of record for apps sold and distributed through its app store.