TikTok’s Canada unit seeks emergency judicial review of shutdown orders
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TikTok is asking the US Supreme Court to strike out a law that requires it to sell its US assets by Jan 19, 2025.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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VANCOUVER – TikTok’s Canada unit filed an emergency motion with Canada’s Federal Court seeking a judicial review of an order that the company shut down its operations in the country on national security concerns, it said on Dec 10.
The Chinese-owned social media app requested the court to set aside a government order requiring TikTok to wind up its business in Canada, a filing dated Dec 5 showed.
As an alternative, the filing said the court could set aside the order and return it to the government for review along with guidance.
Ottawa in 2023 began investigating TikTok’s plan to invest and expand in Canada.
The review led to a government order in November that required the firm to end its Canadian operations
Closing its Canadian business would lead to hundreds of job losses, TikTok argued in its statement on the legal challenge.
“We believe it’s in the best interest of Canadians to find a meaningful solution and ensure that a local team remains in place, alongside the TikTok platform,” it added.
Under Canadian law, the government can assess potential risks to national security from foreign investments, such as the TikTok proposal.
The order in November stopped short of blocking Canadians’ access to the popular social media platform. TikTok has more than 14 million monthly users in the country, according to the company.
The Canadian order followed similar action in the United States, where President Joe Biden in April signed a law requiring Bytedance, which owns TikTok, to sell its US assets by Jan 19, 2025 or face a nationwide ban.
On Dec 9, TikTok and Bytedance separately asked an appeals court to temporarily block the law
