Winnipeg councillor wants TikTok ban on city devices

A Winnipeg councillor is calling for a ban of TikTok on all city devices.

Coun. Markus Chambers (St. Norbert-Seine River) brought forward a motion looking to immediately prohibit the use of the social media app from all city-issued devices.

This comes after the federal government announced in late February that TikTok would be removed and blocked from all government-issued mobile devices, citing concerns about cyber attacks.

Manitoba's provincial government took similar steps days later, with a ban of the app going into effect March 6. The Manitoba government said the reason for the ban was to protect, "the privacy and security of government information."

"Many chief information officers across Canada have determined and stated publicly the app, 'presents an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,'" Chambers said in his motion.

In a previous statement, a spokesperson for TikTok called Canada's ban of the app curious, saying the government didn’t cite any specific security concern or contact the company with questions.

The motion was automatically referred to the executive policy committee.