Evidence of meeting #135 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was content.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, TikTok Canada
I'm not aware of any.
Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Canada, Google Canada
I'm not aware of any.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
Thank you, Mr. Cooper.
I believe we have Mrs. Shanahan from Châteauguay—Lacolle next.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
It will soon be Châteauguay-Les Jardins-de-Napierville.
Conservative
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
The Châteauguay Facebook page is very popular with my fellow citizens. However, I find it disappointing that people put all kinds of personal information on Facebook. I'm thinking of my mother, for example, or friends or relatives. Privacy may be a little-known issue, but I find it worrying.
The question I'm going to ask Ms. Curran concerns the unanimous decision handed down by the Federal Court of Appeal on September 9, 2024.
The decision is called Canada (Privacy Commissioner) v. Facebook, Inc. 2024; it's FCA 140.
It overturned the Federal Court's decision and found that Facebook's practices between 2013 and 2015 had contravened the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, because the company had failed to obtain informed consent from its users and failed to protect their personal data. The Federal Court of Appeal asked the parties to report back within 90 days of the date of the decision to indicate whether an agreement on the terms of the remedial order had been reached.
The Privacy Commissioner of Canada said he expects Facebook to now outline how it will ensure compliance with the court's decision. Meta has not indicated whether it intends to seek leave from the Supreme Court of Canada to appeal the decision.
I assume you are aware of this situation, Ms. Curran.
What does Meta intend to do about the Federal Court of Appeal's unanimous decision in the case between the Privacy Commissioner and Facebook?
Head of Public Policy, Canada, Meta Platforms Inc.
Thank you for the question, MP Shanahan.
As I understand it, this decision is under appeal, but I don't have more detail than that, so I'll avoid commenting on the case specifically.
We have always maintained that there was no evidence that Canadians' information was shared with any external actor, including Cambridge Analytica, and the Federal Court agreed with the finding that there was insufficient evidence that Canadians' data was ever shared externally.
More importantly, in the last few years we have transformed our privacy practices at Meta and built one of the most comprehensive privacy programs in the world, and we look forward to continuing to build the services that people love and trust, with privacy at the forefront.
I won't comment any more on that decision, but I can say we agree with the decision of the Federal Court that there was no evidence that Canadians' data was ever shared with Cambridge Analytica.
Liberal
Brenda Shanahan Liberal Châteauguay—Lacolle, QC
It's not very reassuring because doubt has really been planted among Facebook users. Everyone has seen an advertisement appear while having a private conversation with friends. For example, if the conversation is about buying a car, a car ad suddenly appears. I don't think that's very convincing.
I want to go back to the Federal Court of Appeal decision. Does Meta intend to appeal this decision? Can you give us an idea of Meta's next steps?
Head of Public Policy, Canada, Meta Platforms Inc.
I can't speak to the details of that particular court case. My understanding is that a decision is being appealed, but I don't have more detail than that.
I agree with you, MP Shanahan: If people don't trust us to keep their data safe, we know they won't choose to use our products and our services.
Our business uses data to connect potential customers and users with relevant and interesting content. We can only do that if our users trust us with their data and trust us to ensure their privacy. That's why privacy is really a core priority across our company.
We have dozens of teams now, both technical and non-technical, that focus on the issue of privacy and that look at how data is protected and shared across the company—how it's collected, how it's used and how it's stored. I think it's safe to say that our privacy practices have evolved significantly in the last decade. We are confident now that privacy is really at the core of everything we do and everything we build.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative John Brassard
No, it's over.
Thank you, Ms. Curran.
Mr. Villemure, you have the floor for six minutes.
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
My question is for Mr. de Eyre, from TikTok.
In a March 15 article published by Reuters and reprinted in the Chinese edition of Forbes, we read that 60% of ByteDance shares were held by institutional groups such as Carlyle Group, General Atlantic and Susquehanna, 20% were held by employees, and the rest by Mr. Zhang Yiming, who is the founder. It is also said that, although he owns 20% of the capital, he still holds 50% of the votes in ByteDance.
What is the link with China?
Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, TikTok Canada
He is no longer the CEO or on the board of ByteDance. TikTok operates outside of China. Our CEO is Singaporean and based in Singapore. We are not a Chinese company.
As you said yourself, three of the five board members are American or French citizens.
Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, TikTok Canada
We have extensive policies against harmful misinformation and disinformation. Perhaps my colleague Justin can answer that question a bit better.
October 24th, 2024 / 5:15 p.m.
Global Head of Policy Development, TikTok
Thanks very much for the question.
We take protecting the platform and its integrity very seriously. We have a host of policies around covert influence operations and deceptive behaviour, and some of the strongest misinformation policies in the industry. We take down harmful misinformation about societal—
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
I apologize for interrupting.
Is there disinformation on TikTok, yes or no? I understand that if there is, you take care of it.
Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, TikTok Canada
I can give you some stats. We have an extensive trust and safety operation. We have tens of thousands of trust and safety employees around the world. We have extensive investments in automated moderation technology.
I can give you one stat. If you look at our transparency report, which is a public quarterly report of content that's taken down for violating our policy on authenticity and integrity—
Bloc
René Villemure Bloc Trois-Rivières, QC
Thank you, Mr. de Eyre.
I understand that you act when there is disinformation.
Have you identified certain states that are more active in terms of disinformation?
Director, Public Policy and Government Affairs, TikTok Canada
Justin, do you want to take that question?
Global Head of Policy Development, TikTok
Sure. Thanks.
As I mentioned, we have teams dedicated to focusing on covert influence and foreign influence activities. They certainly identify and take down many different networks, which we share on our transparency report with monthly updates.
In terms of some of the most common activities that I think you were asking about, we've seen upticks, certainly, in Russian behaviour and networks that we have taken down in the recent past.
Bloc
