City of Toronto removes TikTok from all staff devices following federal, provincial bans

The City of Toronto is removing the social media platform TikTok on all city-issued devices, after the federal and Ontario governments announced they would ban the application.

In a news release Friday, the city said it is making the move to drop the application as a "precautionary measure" and"in response to recent concerns" surrounding TikTok.

TikTok will be removed from 350 city-issued devices and will also be blocked for downloading on staff devices in the future, the city says.

"While there have been no security or privacy breaches, the City is committed to ensuring the protection of its data and keeping information secure," the release reads.

"The City continuously monitors its digital assets to detect and respond to cyber threats to protect privacy and government data."

Toronto's decision Friday comes after Ontario banned TikTok on government-owned devices and on the personal devices of Progressive Conservative Party caucus members.

The city says in a release that the decision is in line with federal, provincial and municipal partners and was made in consultation with its technology services division, chief information security officer and senior leadership.

Toronto joins a growing number of cities and police forces across Ontario that are following the federal government's lead in banning the app from work devices.

The Chinese government has a stake in TikTok's owner, ByteDance, and Chinese laws allow the country to demand access to user data, but the company maintains that it does not share data with Beijing.