Tory MP Questions Feds’ Move to Set Aside TikTok Shutdown Order After PM’s Beijing Trip

Udumbara Udumbara
Jan 24, 2026 - 11:02 Updated: Jan 24, 2026 - 10:50
0
Tory MP Questions Feds’ Move to Set Aside TikTok Shutdown Order After PM’s Beijing Trip

.

Conservative MP Raquel Dancho says the fact that the Liberal government asked the Federal Court to set aside the government’s earlier shutdown order for TikTok as Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China recently sends “troubling signals.”

The Federal Court of Canada said on Jan. 21 that TikTok can continue its operations in Canada for now, and referred the matter back to Industry Minister Mélanie Joly for further review.

The ruling came after the federal government filed a letter with the court on Jan. 19, saying it had reached an agreement with TikTok to set aside the shutdown order and conduct a new national security review. The letter said both Ottawa and TikTok had agreed to jointly seek an order from the court.

“Just days after a trip to Beijing, the Liberal government has abandoned its effort to shut down TikTok’s operations in Canada,” Dancho wrote in a Jan. 22 post on X.

She noted that TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is headquartered in China and is subject to the regime’s national intelligence law requiring all organizations and citizens to support the state in the collection of intelligence.

“Setting aside this court order—which was government policy a year ago—sends troubling signals for our national security and the integrity of our data protection,” Dancho said.

.

The Federal Court’s ruling came less than a week after Carney wrapped up his visit to China, where Ottawa made numerous agreements with Beijing. The prime minister has been pursuing a “strategic partnership” with China in an effort to boost Canada’s non-U.S. exports and attract more investment. He said during his visit that Ottawa’s relationship with Beijing had entered a “new era.”

The Epoch Times asked Joly’s office whether the government’s decision to set aside the shutdown order was related to Carney’s Beijing visit. The minister’s office said that following amendments to the Investment Canada Act, TikTok was “among the first to be considered with the Government’s new authority to accept undertakings from an investor to address national security risks.”

“A new review will allow the government to more fully consider how best to address any national security concerns,” Joly’s office said.

“While the Government discussed a broad range of opportunities for investment in Canada, we will not get into specific conversations. This is ultimately about getting to a national security review that can inform the best decision to protect Canadians’ national security interests.”

Asked by reporters on Jan. 23 whether the decision was related to Carney’s trip to China, Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon said that while the file isn’t under his purview, there are “lots of conversations ongoing with China.”

“We’re glad that we’re engaging pragmatically and eyes wide open with China,” Solomon said.

“This is a pragmatic, constructive engagement in the world that we need, and that’s what you’re seeing with China, and we are glad to see the prime minister go there and bring back some historic investments,” he added.

Ottawa had ordered ByteDance to close its TikTok operations in Canada in November 2024, following a national security review that was launched in September 2023 without a public announcement. However, it did not block Canadians’ access to the TikTok app, with then-Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne saying the decision to use a social media application or platform is “a personal choice.”

Champagne said at the time he had ordered the “wind up” of TikTok Technology Canada to address “specific national security risks” related to its operations, but he did not specify what the risks were. TikTok challenged the government’s order in court.

National Security Concerns

Security agencies have raised concerns about the Chinese ownership of TikTok regarding the ways user data is processed and stored, and how the company can use its algorithm to suppress or boost information.
Then-FBI director Christopher Wray said in 2022 that the Chinese regime could use the app to “control data collection on millions of users or control the recommendation algorithm, which could be used for influence operations if they so chose, or to control software on millions of devices which gives it opportunity to potentially technically compromise personal devices.”

Ottawa banned the use of TikTok on government devices in February 2023, citing concerns of an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.” Then-Treasury Board president Mona Fortier said TikTok’s data collection methods “provide considerable access to the contents of the phone,” and noted there were concerns about the legal regime that governs the information collected.

Canadian Security Intelligence Services (CSIS) Director Daniel Rogers said in December 2024 that authoritarian states like Beijing use big data collected from social media platforms such as TikTok “to carry out foreign interference activities,” which could “cause injury to Canada’s national security.”

He said the company could be compelled to collect data or use the platform in ways that align with the regime’s interests, since ByteDance is a Chinese entity subject to the regime’s laws.

Government officials also raised concerns with Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission in 2024 about social media platforms such as TikTok being used by the Chinese regime to target youth as part of its disinformation efforts to shape future Western leaders.

The United States has also raised national security concerns about TikTok. In 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump issued an executive order giving the company time to divest its U.S. operations to avoid a ban.

A deal finalized on Jan. 22 created a U.S.-based joint venture, with American companies taking the lead on data and security while ByteDance retains a minority stake. Noé Chartier and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.

.
Read More