Alberta, Calgary governments outlaw TikTok

The Government of Alberta and the City of Calgary are joining Quebec, Ottawa and others in banning TikTok on their devices.

The provincial government told CTV Calgary of its decision on Tuesday afternoon.

"After an analysis of the risks presented by TikTok to government security and the integrity of government decision-making, Premier (Danielle) Smith and Nate Glubish, Minister of Technology and Innovation, have directed the Public Service Commission to immediately ban the installation of TikTok and remove any existing instances of the application from Government of Alberta devices," the province said.

Not long after, the City of Calgary told CTV Calgary it would do the same.

"Following recent decisions from the Government of Canada, the Government of Alberta, the European Union and the United States Government to block the use of TikTok on their organizations’ devices, the City of Calgary will be removing access to TikTok from city devices on Wednesday, March 1, 2023 to protect the city’s information and technology environment against significant security and privacy threats," the city said.

Recently, Canada's federal government announced it would ban the popular social media platform from its devices, citing security concerns.

The Government of Quebec followed suit, and other Canadian provinces and municipalities have done likewise or are now mulling doing so.

According to Alberta's government, "there have been no incident of activities such as spying stemming from the use of TikTok."

The province also says "The removal of TikTok from GoA devices will be largely automated, staff are also being provided directions on how to remove TikTok from their devices."