I appeared on The Big Story podcast on July 18, 2025. In the episode, we discussed TikTok’s effort to keep operating in Canada, the national-security concerns behind the ordered shutdown of its Canadian business, and what the dispute means for Canadian users. The link to the episode is here.
Latest Posts
What Is the Canadian Government Doing With Its Incoherent Approach to TikTok?
My latest Globe and Mail op-ed notes that TikTok has long presented a thorny challenge for Western governments. The security and privacy concerns resulting from its link to China have pushed some to ban the app altogether. Others, cognizant of its enormous popularity with younger demographics and its support for the cultural sector, have sought to establish regulatory safeguards, required sales of controlling interest, or demanded localized versions that limit the potential for Chinese influence or interference.
Ottawa has faced many of the same issues, yet what has emerged is an incoherent approach that leaves Canadians with the worst of all worlds: less protection against security and privacy risks, less support for the cultural sector, and less certainty about what the government is trying to achieve.
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 240: Dean Beeby on Why Canada’s Language Laws May Stop Government From Posting Access to Information Records Online
Canada’s outdated and discouragingly ineffective access to information system has languished for years to the frustration of many transparency advocates. One potential fix – or at least improvement – would be for government departments and agencies to make the full text of the records from access requests available to the public by default online. Yet the biggest barrier to that approach has been Canada’s language laws and a recent decision from Commissioner for Official Languages may have killed the possibility altogether for the moment. Dean Beeby, an investigative journalist and freedom of information specialist recently wrote about the case on his Substack. He joins the Law Bytes podcast to discuss both the case and how technology may provide a solution, if the government is open to some legislative reforms.
Risky Business: The Legal and Privacy Concerns of Mandatory Age Verification Technologies
When the intersection of law and technology presents seemingly intractable new challenges, policy makers often bet on technology itself to solve the problem. Whether countering copyright infringement with digital locks, limiting access to unregulated services with website blocking, or deploying artificial intelligence to facilitate content moderation, there is a recurring hope the answer to the policy dilemma lies in better technology. While technology frequently does play a role, experience suggests that the reality is far more complicated as new technologies also create new risks and bring unforeseen consequences. So too with the emphasis on age verification technologies as a magical solution to limiting under-age access to adult content online. These technologies offer some promise, but the significant privacy and accuracy risks that could inhibit freedom of expression are too great to ignore.
The Hub runs a debate today on the mandated use of age verification technologies. I argue against it in a slightly shorter version of this post. Daniel Zekveld of the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada makes the case for it in this post.
Another Canadian Digital Policy Own Goal: Corporate TikTok Ban Leads to Millions in Lost Cultural Group Support
The government’s bad run of digital policy choices that led to blocked news links on Facebook and Instagram, ongoing litigation over mandated streaming payments, and the recent cancellation of the digital services tax, has paved the way for another costly loss. Last fall, the Canadian government announced the conclusion of its national security review of TikTok and arrived at a curious plan: ban the company from operating in Canada but leave the app itself untouched. The decision raised concerns about weakening privacy enforcement as the Privacy Commissioner of Canada acknowledged that it is easier to compel documents and support investigations if the company is in Canada (the results of a Privacy Commissioner investigation into TikTok have still not been released).
Recent Posts
Unleashing the Trolls: Ontario Court Opens the Door to Liability for Influencers Who Weaponize Their Audiences 
Why Ottawa Will Likely Join the U.S. in Opposing the Quebec Online Streaming Law at the Centre of the Trade Battle 
Online Harms’ Forgotten Generation: Why the Government Needs to Pay Attention to Protecting Seniors 
Culture Off the Table? What the Collapsed Canada-U.S. Trade Talks Reveal About the Carney Government’s Cultural Policy 
Digital Trade Alignment: What May Be in Play in the Canada-U.S. Trade Deal
