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Trudeau Government Still Advertising on China’s Tik Tok Despite Ban

The Canadian federal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is still using the Chinese-owned app Tik Tok for advertising despite banning it on all government employee devices.

The Canadian government banned employees from using the controversial social media app last month amid what it termed an “unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,” but reports note that the government continues to engage with Tik Tok for advertising.

Brett Caraway, an associate professor at the University of Toronto told broadcaster CBC that the policy seemed contradictory saying, “It seems a little bit like a double standard to me to say, ‘Well, it’s it’s too dangerous for any of our employees to have, but it’s okay for reaching teenagers.”

Vass Bednar, who serves as executive director of McMaster University’s Master of Public Policy in Digital Society Program was also critical saying, “I don’t think it’s the right use of tax dollars if we are in fact so newly serious and cautious about this one app.”

According to CBC, the federal government advertises for recruitment in the Canadian armed forces and promotes other initiatives on Tik Tok, including those regarding online disinformation and public safety.

Canada’s ban on Tik Tok for federal employees was announced by the country’s chief information officer, who stated the app’s “data collection methods provide considerable access to the contents of the phone.”

Canada is not the only country to ban Tik Tok in recent weeks yet keep using it to spread government messaging to young people, as the United Kingdom also announced a ban on the use of the app earlier this month.

Government spokesman Oliver Dowden commented on the ban saying there was a “specific risk” to government devices and that the government would “going to ban the use of TikTok on government devices. We will do so with immediate effect… Overall this approach aligns with action taken by allies including the United States, Canada, and the EU.”

Yet despite the ban, the UK government said there would be specific exclusions from the rule to allow some government devices to keep it installed “where it is required for operational reasons”.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/23/trudeau-government-still-advertising-on-chinas-tik-tok-despite-ban/

Nordic country targets Telegram over ‘Russian origins’

The messaging app, along with the Chinese TikTok, are now banned from devices used by Norwegian government officials for work purposes

The Norwegian Justice Ministry has instructed government officials not to install TikTok or Telegram on their work devices, after a security agency labeled the apps as risks. Many Western nations have cracked down in a similar way on TikTok, a Chinese-owned video sharing service, but Norway is the first to include Telegram, a popular messenger, in its restrictions.

The decision, which the ministry announced on Tuesday, is based on a review conducted by Oslo’s National Security Authority (NSM) earlier this month. It branded Telegram suspicious due to its “Russian origins,” the ministerial statement said.

Justice Minister Emilie Enger Mehl said she supported the recommendations provided by the NSM and told officials not to use the two apps. If required for work purposes, they should be installed on a separate device, she added.

Mehl, who is 29 and is the youngest member of the Norwegian cabinet, earlier drew criticism for running TikTok on her work phone. She said she wanted to reach out to younger audiences, among whom the app is highly popular, and removed it after about a month of use.

The NSM expressed broader concerns over apps that collect user information, including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat. But the ministry singled out TikTok and Telegram, citing a report released in February by the national armed forces, which described China and Russia as the biggest threats to the Nordic country’s security.

TikTok has also been targeted in the US, UK, Canada, and by EU authorities in recent weeks. The Norwegian parliament is set to ban its use by lawmakers, according to local media.

Telegram’s “Russian origins” are an apparent reference to its creator, Pavel Durov, who was born in what is now St. Petersburg and obtained his degree in linguistics in Russia. He left the country in 2013, and has since become a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and France.

Telegram’s parent company operates from Dubai and is registered in the British Virgin Islands. In 2018, a court in Moscow banned the app at the request of media regulator RKN, which complained about the company’s failure to provide encryption keys to security services. Telegram claimed it was impossible due to the way the platform operates. Attempts to enforce the prohibition were unsuccessful, and it was lifted two years later.

https://www.rt.com/news/573409-norway-telegram-government-devices/

Dutch Officials Ordered to Delete all Iranian, Russian and Chinese Phone Apps

Officials in the Netherlands have been told to delete all Iranian, Russian and Chinese apps from their work phones.

Dutch officials have been told by their government that they must delete all mobile phone apps owned by the likes of China, Russia, Iran and North Korea from their work phones.

The nation had already told its officials to keep the Chinese Communist Party-linked app TikTok off of their work devices, with the country citing serious security concerns for the guidance.

According to a report by De Telegraaf, such an order has now been seriously expanded, with the Dutch cabinet telling officials on Tuesday that they need to delete all apps from countries which have an “offensive cyber program against the Netherlands” in place.

The cabinet reportedly justified the decision by saying that apps from such hostile states pose “an increased risk of espionage”.

“Examples of countries with such an offensive cyber program are Russia, China, Iran and North Korea,” Minister of Digitization Alexandra van Huffelen allegedly wrote in a letter to civil servants, arguing that these countries have “the intent and capacity” to spy on the Netherlands.

Cabinet officials reportedly aim to eventually expand such a cyber-security policy even further by banning all apps from government phones not explicitly given the green light by the government’s IT section.

Speaking in response to the decision to ban apps from various hostile foreign countries, TikTok claimed that it was not “Chinese-owned” nor “controlled by any state or government”.

Such a claim does not appear to be believed by many Western government officials, with a slew of nations across Europe and America making the decision to ban the social media platform’s app from government devices.

One of the most recent nations to impose such a restriction is the UK, with Westminster citing the platform as posing a “specific risk” to the country.

The European Union has also ordered staff to delete the app not only from government devices, but also from personal devices that have work-related material on them in order to lower the risk of digital espionage.

Meanwhile, the United States has launched an investigation into TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, over claims a number of now former employees used data gathered by the platform to track the location of two journalists in the United States.

A spokesman for the company has since claimed that it “strongly condemned” the actions of the former employees, before insisting that it would be willing to assist any official government investigations into the incident.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/03/23/dutch-officials-ordered-to-delete-all-iranian-russian-and-chinese-phone-apps/

Biden making ‘enormous’ mistake on China – former US secretary of state

The White House has failed to prevent a “wedding” between Moscow and Beijing, Mike Pompeo has claimed

The US government is making “an enormous strategic mistake” by downplaying the importance of rapidly expanding Russia-China ties, Mike Pompeo, who served as the country's secretary of state under former president Donald Trump, has warned.

The alliance between Moscow and Beijing “may be a shotgun wedding, but they’re still married,” Pompeo told Fox News on Wednesday.

“To hear the White House play this down as if it’s insignificant or unimportant is an enormous strategic mistake,” he added.

Pompeo, who was speaking hours after Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded a landmark visit to Moscow, where multiple deals were signed, stressed that China has been “getting energy at a discounted price” from Russia.

“Think about that. American manufacturing companies are paying full freight for energy today and the Chinese are getting a 15, 20% discount on each barrel of oil, allowing them to continue to dump their products here in America,” he explained.

The former secretary of state also claimed that “at least for today, the Chinese Communist Party is providing lethal assistance to Ukraine, almost certainly.” He was apparently referring to Russian forces fighting Ukraine, not Kiev itself. Weapons for Ukraine are being provided by the US and its NATO allies, together with funds, intelligence and training for troops.

Beijing has previously denied claims that it is supplying or planning to supply arms to Moscow amid its conflict with Kiev, calling such allegations by Washington “false.” Russia has also insisted that it relies on locally made weaponry in its military operation.

“Now, the Biden administration has failed. They have allowed the Russians and the Chinese to come together in this way and it presents enormous risk to the US and every citizen,” Pompeo continued.

Commenting on Xi’s visit to Moscow, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said he didn’t believe that there was an alliance between Moscow and Beijing, reiterating his earlier suggestion that it was just “marriage of convenience.”

https://www.rt.com/news/573454-china-putin-xi-pompeo/

Disney World Florida to host world's largest LGBT+ conference

The Walt Disney Company is listed as a top partner on the organization's website.

Walt Disney World in Florida will host an LGBT+ conference this fall that organizers are calling the world's largest – as the resort and state GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis continue to spar over sexual-orientation and gender-identity issues.

Out & Equal, an activist group that promotes equality for LGBT+ people in the workplace, is hosting its 2023 Workplace Summit for three days in September, according to the organization's website. The group says the summit "is the largest LGBTQ+ conference in the world, with more than 5,000 attendees every year."

DeSantis last month signed a law ending Disney's special self-governing status over its resort and the surrounding area. The legislation came largely in response to Disney's protests against Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics as the "Don't say gay bill."

Out & Equal's website also features a photo of Mickey Mouse and states the summit will be held in Orlando, but it does not specify that it will be at the resort itself. However, Chief Marketing Officer Michael Chamberlain confirmed Wednesday to The Tampa Bay Times the conference will be held at the Disney resort.

The Walt Disney Company is listed as a top partner on the organization's website. Other top partners include Dell Technologies, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Apple and Uber. The group also has government partners, including the CIA, the Food and Drug Administration, the State Department and the Agriculture Department.

https://justthenews.com/nation/culture/disney-world-florida-host-worlds-largest-lgbt-confrerence