Following TikTok bans introduced recently by the federal and provincial governments, Sault Ste. Marie city council will be asked next week to ban the TikTok app from all city-owned devices.

Ward 4 Couns. Stephan Kinach and Marchy Bruni will present a resolution at Monday’s city council meeting, asking that a plan to remove the popular short-form video app be prepared for their April 11 meeting.

TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020.

The company is under intense scrutiny over concerns that its app could be used to collect data from western users or to spread propaganda.

The following is the full text of the Kinach/Bruni resolution:

TikTok ban on city devices

Mover: Coun. S. Kinach
Seconder: Coun. M. Bruni

Whereas the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) Canadian Centre for cybersecurity recommends the removal of the TikTok app from all commercial and government devices; and

Whereas in this day and age cybersecurity concerns should be taken seriously; and

Whereas the federal government has already banned the TikTok app on government devices and;

Whereas the Provinces of Ontario, Nova Scotia and Quebec have quickly followed the federal government;

Now therefore be it resolved that staff be requested to report back to city council with a plan to implement the removal of TikTok from all city devices for next council meeting April 11, 2023.