What does Canada’s reversal of a TikTok operations ban mean for users? – National

After completing a national security review, TikTok and the government of Canada announced Monday that the popular social media platform can continue maintaining business operations in Canada.

In the company’s press release, TikTok listed a series of initiatives the company would undertake, such as “enhanced data security, third-party oversight, supporting Canadian creators and culture, youth safety and access to research tools.”

Questions have swirled about TikTok’s future in Canada, stemming from long-standing but contested national security concerns that were the focus of a U.S. effort to get ByteDance, the app’s former Chinese owner, to divest of the app — which is now under U.S. ownership.

Brett Caraway, a media economics professor at the University of Toronto, said the reversal of a ban on the company’s business operations in Canada likely indicates a ban for users is not in the cards.

“We are not heading in that direction anymore,” he said. “There’s an important win here for Canadian users of TikTok.” 

Following a more than two-year investigation launched by Canadian federal privacy commissioner Philippe Dufresne and his counterparts in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta, it was found that TikTok “has been collecting and using personal information of hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 13 who use the app each year — despite the company stating its platform is not intended for users that young.”

“We found that TikTok must do more to keep underage children off its platform,” Dufresne said at a press conference in Ottawa on Sept. 23, 2025.

Industry Minister Melanie Joly released a statement on Monday stating that TikTok has agreed to “new security gateways and privacy-enhancing technologies to control access to Canadian user data.”

“The decision follows a thorough assessment of the information and evidence gathered during the review process, including advice from Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners. Protecting Canadians’ data and the safety of children online will always be a top priority of the government,” the statement reads.

Philip Mai, executive director and senior researcher with Social Media Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University, said the changes “are likely to impact how some features work on the platform.”

“Users may notice stricter age limits on livestreams, new restrictions on gift features for younger users, and tighter moderation of content involving minors,” he said in an emailed statement to Global News.

“Many of the shifts will happen behind the scenes. As the platform adapts to new rules, verification processes, advertising tools, and moderation systems are expected to become more rigorous.”

Caraway also said that the conversation surrounding minors’ use of TikTok is different compared with other parts of the world.

“There’s a focus more on privacy protection here, not explicitly the concerns that we’re seeing around smartphone usage and what it means for the development of adolescence.”

 

The changes come after then-industry minister François-Philippe Champagne announced in a November 2024 statement that “the Government of Canada has ordered the wind up of the Canadian business carried on by TikTok Technology Canada, Inc.”

Champagne said the decision “was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners.”

This was a decision that Caraway believes has always been “important” to TikTok’s visibility in the country.

“I think having TikTok be here in Canada makes them more responsive to our concerns as Canadians,” he said. “There’s somebody that you can reach out to and talk to when something’s going sideways with TikTok or with all social media. I want them [TikTok] to be responsive to the needs of Canadians.”

On Jan. 21 2026, a Federal Court order set aside the order to shut down the Canadian offices, which Caraway said “marked a turn in something that had been [kind of] antagonistic to something that was a little bit more collaborative.”

However, technology analyst Carmi Levy said on Global National that it is up to the government to keep tabs on these new policies.

“It’s one thing to issue an order; it’s quite another to enforce it,” he said. “So, the biggest challenge really lies with the federal government’s side.”

— with files from Global’s Sean Boynton

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