TikTok has challenged a Canadian government order to the Chinese video-sharing app's business operations in the country that was imposed over national security concerns.
The company said Tuesday that it filed an application for a judicial review with the Federal Court in Vancouver on Dec. 5, which seeks to set aside the order for TikTok to wind-up and cease its business in Canada.
The Canadian federal government last month announced it was of TikTok Technology Canada Inc. after a national security review of its Chinese parent company ByteDance Ltd.
The government is not blocking access to the TikTok app, which will continue to be available to Canadians. TikTok said it has 14 million users in Canada, which is about a third of the population. It has offices in Toronto and Vancouver.
The wildly popular platform is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020, but is under increasing pressure in the West. It's facing a possible and intensifying scrutiny in Europe over issues including allegedly coordinated by Moscow.
TikTok argues in its court application, which was , that Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne's decision was 鈥渦nreasonable鈥� and 鈥渄riven by improper purposes.鈥� It says the order is 鈥済rossly disproportionate鈥� and the the national security review was 鈥減rocedurally unfair.鈥�
The review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate foreign investment with potential to harm national security.
Champagne said in a statement at the time that the government was taking action to address 鈥渟pecific national security risks,鈥� but did not elaborate. His office said in response to the filling that the government鈥檚 decision was informed by a 鈥渢horough national security review and advice from Canada鈥檚 security and intelligence community.鈥�
TikTok said Champagne 鈥渇ailed to engage with TikTok Canada on the purported substance of the concerns" that led to the order.
It argues the government ordered 鈥渕easures that bear no rational connection to the national security risks it identifies" and that the reasons for the order 鈥渁re unintelligible, fail to reveal a rational chain of analysis and are rife with logical fallacies.鈥�
The platform says there were 鈥渓ess onerous鈥� options than shutting down its Canadian business, which it said would eliminate hundreds of jobs, threaten business contracts and 鈥渃ause the destruction of significant economic opportunities."
Kelvin Chan, The Associated Press
