OTTAWA, ON (May 14, 2024):
The enemy is inside the gates – in fact, the enemy is inside your pocket.
TikTok, despite what your preteen neighbour might believe, is far from a benign, entertaining app to share cheesy dance videos on. It is an insidious tool used by the People’s Republic of China for mass surveillance and influence operations that threaten Western democracies. Canada must follow the United States in compelling TikTok to divest from its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance.
Sze-Fung Lee’s new report, TikTok – China’s glaring Trojan Horse: How Beijing uses the intensely addictive app for digital surveillance and influence operations, reveals how Beijing employs TikTok as a strategic tool to advance its global agenda, and proposes policy solutions to mitigate the malign influence of the popular app.
Under China’s legal framework, TikTok’s data could be transferred to the PRC through backdoor codes and its in-app-linked video template software CapCut. With a billion active users, TikTok’s extensive global reach and pervasive data collection infrastructure imply that most of the PRC’s targets could be subjected to Beijing’s mass surveillance, regardless of their geographic location and even if they are not using TikTok.
Lee includes various case studies to illustrate how Beijing uses TikTok to maximize the impact of influence operations via disinformation campaigns, conspiracy theories, and rebukes of “Western lies” about the PRC’s use of forced labour and oppression of ethnic minorities.
Lee reveals how some of the TikTok IOs have targeted Canadians and discusses the implications for Canada if it fails to urgently act to protect the personal data of its citizens.
According to Lee, a key goal should be to compel TikTok to divest from its Beijing-based parent company to help protect sensitive data from the PRC. Other longer-term solutions include banning cross-border data transfers to foreign adversaries; scrutinizing laws and regulations for data brokers; mandating that online platforms investigate and report on influence operations; and engaging in education campaigns and strategic communications initiatives to bolster democratic resilience.
“Liberal democracies have no time to waste,” warns Lee.
“The clock is ticking – not on TikTok, but on us – to safeguard our own security and sovereignty.”
To learn more, read the full paper here:
Sze-Fung Lee (ze/zir) is an independent researcher specializing in Chinese hybrid warfare, including foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI), grand strategy, nuclear proliferation, grey zone tactics, and cognitive warfare.
For further information, media are invited to contact:
Skander Belouizdad
Communications Officer
613-482-8327 x111
skander.belouizdad@macdonaldlaurier.ca
