Live data from Hacker News

Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

theguardian.com

11–20 of 65 posts

Re: Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

#12
post #5

My bigger question is why was this allowed on government devices in the first place? Shouldn't work phones be for work?

I would guess the Canadian government employ people to manage social media for various departments. They may use TikTok, both to view content to understand for research or to post in order to promote their services/role/existance. Similarly I might imagine they have Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other apps which facilitate spreading information.

At that point I would just buy the cheapest iPad and use it only for that. If you need mobile data, setup a hotspot temporarily.

Re: Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

#13

It’s to distract from the government’s unwillingness to hold a public inquiry into China’s election meddling.

It's all rather hilarious. The tiktok story is the 2nd headline on Google news for me. The first being something insane about a CCP official, CSIS, and a fat donation the PM's charity fund??

Re: Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

#14
post #4

[flagged]

In the HN spirit, what would be the "strongest plausible interpretation" of why a public inquiry might not be the best solution? I can list a few to start: international relations, protection of sources and methods, unnecessary delay in addressing the issue, risking politicizing the apolitical institution of Elections Canada

Re: Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

#16

It’s to distract from the government’s unwillingness to hold a public inquiry into China’s election meddling.

Yes, I'm sure that's why the European commission did the same [1] a few days ago, why the US House is debating it now [2], and a number of other govt's have been considering it in the last month or two..

[1] https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2023/02/23/european-commi...

[2] https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3876321-tiktok-ban-mak...

[3] https://thehill.com/policy/technology/3845729-texas-governor... https://statescoop.com/florida-tiktok-ban-desantis-digital-r...

Re: Canada bans TikTok on government devices over security risks

#18
post #4

[flagged]

In the HN spirit, what would be the "strongest plausible interpretation" of why a public inquiry might not be the best solution? I can list a few to start: international relations, protection of sources and methods, unnecessary delay in addressing the issue, risking politicizing the apolitical institution of Elections Canada

None of those balance the harms of loss of trust in government and institutions.
Post reply on HN