“I WOULD ABSOLUTELY NOT RECOMMEND SOMEONE HAVE TIKTOK” SAYS CANADA’S SPY CHIEF

Sat 18 May 2024:

Canada’s intelligence chief advised against using TikTok, warning that the social media platform serves as an information conduit to the Chinese government, according to a report on Friday.

“My answer as director is that there is a very clear strategy on the part of the government of China … to be able to acquire … personal information from anyone around the world,” Canadian Security Intelligence Security (CSIS) chief David Vigneault told CBC News.

“As an individual, I would say that I would absolutely not recommend someone have TikTok.”

Vigneault’s remarks came in a CBC interview set to air on Saturday, following a CSIS annual report released last week that highlighted the extensive reach of the Chinese government’s information-gathering efforts.

“Most people can say, ‘Why is it a big deal for a teenager now to have their data [on TikTok]?’ Well in five years, in 10 years, that teenager will be a young adult, will be engaged in different activities around the world,” Vigneault said.

“If you are, for whatever reason, getting in the crosshairs of the (People’s Republic of China), they will have a lot of information about you.”

The spy chief said Chinese President Xi Jinping has enacted legislation that controls information and requires Chinese citizens no matter where they live globally to help Chinese intelligence gatherers.

“They’re using big data analytics, they have amazing computer farms crunching the data, they are developing artificial intelligence … based on using this data,” Vigneault said. “The ultimate goal is always to protect the interests of the Chinese Communist Party. And so from that point of view, in many ways, this is a threat to the way we live.”

Concerns about TikTok are not unique to Canada. The U.S. government recently gave ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, a year to sell the platform or face a ban.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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