TikTok CEO asks to meet with industry minister over shutdown order

The CEO of TikTok is asking Industry Minister Melanie Joly for an urgent meeting about the federal government's order directing the company to shut down its Canadian operations.

Shou Chew wrote to Joly on July 2 asking for an in-person meeting within two weeks, according to a letter obtained by The Canadian Press.

Chew argued that order was made in different circumstances, when it looked like the United States was going to ban TikTok.

"There is no upside to this outdated and counterproductive government order, which was issued under a different government and in a different era, and which doesn't reflect today's reality," the letter says.

In November, Ottawa ordered the dissolution of TikTok's Canadian business following a national security review of ByteDance Ltd., the Chinese company behind the social media platform.

While TikTok has been told to wind down its Canadian operations, the app will continue to be available to Canadians.

Chew argued going ahead with that November directive would make Canada an outlier among its allies, including other countries that are part of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance.

He said the order appeared to be based on "assumptions about TikTok's future in the United States which no longer hold true."

Canada launched its national security review in the fall of 2023 but did not disclose it until March 2024, when the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to ban TikTok if ByteDance did not divest its stake.

But in June, U.S. President Donald Trump extended the deadline to ban TikTok in the U.S. for a third time.

In the July 2 letter, Chew said that without Joly's intervention, the company would soon have to fire more than 350 employees in Canada, stop its direct investment in Canada and cut support for Canadian creators and culture.

"The wind-up process is rapidly approaching a critical juncture," he wrote.

On July 7, TikTok said it was pulling out as a sponsor of several Canadian arts institutions, including the Juno Awards and the Toronto International Film Festival.

A spokesperson for Joly did not answer questions about whether the minister has responded to the letter or plans to meet with Chew.

TikTok is challenging the shutdown order in federal court. It launched a legal challenge in December, arguing the government ordered "measures that bear no rational connection to the national security risks it identifies."

Ottawa's national security review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with the potential to harm national security.

When he was industry minister, Francois-Philippe Champagne said the government was taking action to address "specific national security risks." He didn't specify what those risks are.

Privacy and safety concerns about TikTok and ByteDance have focused on Chinese national security laws that compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Chew said no evidence has been presented to show that TikTok is a security threat to Canada and the government has not been interested in discussing solutions.

He said the government's concerns could be addressed through measures such as enhanced data security protocols and additional transparency and oversight measures.

The shutdown order would leave TikTok available to its 14 million users in Canada, Chew said in the letter.

But the company would "no longer have a presence or representatives within Canada's jurisdiction," he added.

He said the company's Canadian employees have appeared at parliamentary committees, engaged with regulators, trained Canadian law enforcement on how to submit lawful access requests and worked with Elections Canada during the federal election.

"TikTok maintaining a presence in Canada means there is a local team who is accountable to Canadian policy-makers and authorities," he wrote.