Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, recommended that Canadians stop using Meta following comments from CSIS. Yet, they are still using the platform.
Another day, another instance of political hypocrisy. Yesterday, we reported on the fresh wave of unfounded conspiracy theories flooding the broadcast airwaves and online media reports. The attacks argue, among other things, that TikTok is a Chinese spy machine where downloading the app will allow the Chinese government to download the contents of your computer and steal personal information for the purpose of blackmail. Additionally, the conspiracy theories also say that TikTok is a massive Chinese foreign interference operation designed to poison your mind and turn you into a communist zombie sympathetic to Chinese propaganda campaigns.
The claims continue to be backed by no real evidence of any kind (big surprise!), but rather, rely on the Canadian public to just naively believe everything someone on the TV says while showcasing zero critical thinking skills. For the Canadian mainstream media, this latest volley represents the latest example of how the Canadian media continues to hit rock bottom in terms of credibility when it comes to covering tech related stories.
Of course, it’s worth pointing out that it wasn’t solely the Canadian media pushing these conspiracy theories and discouraging the use of TikTok. The Canadian government, headed by the Liberal party, was also trying to dissuade Canadian’s from using TikTok. Like the media reports, the government’s recommendations are based on almost no evidence, but rather, vague accusations instead. In the CBC report we highlighted yesterday, we also saw this:
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday his government is watching to see how TikTok responds to the U.S. bill.
“Obviously, as a government we lean heavily on CSIS and our intelligence agencies to keep Canadians safe. And when the director of CSIS is pointing out that TikTok poses a real threat to the data security of Canadians, I think Canadians need to listen,” he said during a media availability in Winnipeg.
“We know that a lot of people, particularly young people, enjoy using TikTok and we need to make sure that usage is safe. So we’re going to follow carefully, but before taking any drastic actions, let’s see how the company responds.”
As CTV also noted, Trudeau recommended that Canadians stop using TikTok altogether.
Yet, despite all of that, there are Canadians who continue to use TikTok. That, ironically, includes the Liberal Party of Canada. As Michael Geist noted, the Liberal Party of Canada has an active TikTok channel, reaching out to Canadians using the platform. The Liberal Party’s official TikTok account shows various political ads. As of this writing, this video was posted an hour ago attacking the Conservative leader for his insider influence and various corporate donors.
The continued use of TikTok by the Liberal party really undermines their scaremongering messaging about how “dangerous” TikTok is. It’s supposedly “dangerous” to Canadians, but not dangerous enough for the Liberal party to stop using it to reach out to Canadians to spread their messaging (thereby encouraging the use of TikTok in the process). It’s blatant political hypocrisy, though, for those who follow Freezenet, it’s not even the first time this has happened.
When Meta refused to carry news links following the governments demands for the platform to pay publishers for the privilege of sending them traffic, the Canadian government initiated an attempted advertiser boycott of the platform. While the party encouraged other businesses to drop their advertising campaigns on the platform, the Liberal party themselves flatly refused to participate. It truly represented a case of “do as I say, not as I do” moment for the party.
Now, a year later, the Liberal party finds itself in a nearly identical situation. They know what benefits their party and they are willing to operate under their own rules because it benefits the party. Amusingly, they have no problem pushing their political agenda on TikTok and trying to influence elections in the process. So, seemingly, it’s only OK when they do it.
At any rate, the arguments they make about how “dangerous” TikTok is is completely undermined here. The party knows that it’s beneficial to use the platform and if it helps the party, they’ll use anything and everything for their political gains. Maybe TikTok isn’t this massive nebulous threat they make it out to be after all. Actions, after all, speak louder than words.
