On Nov. 6, the Canadian government did something unexpected: it ordered the owners of the social media app TikTok to wind up their operations in Canada — without banning the app itself. The reason had to do with national security concerns that were not disclosed.

Many are wondering what kind of threat TikTok poses by having offices in Toronto and Vancouver, or how shutting them down would make Canada safer.

One legal expert has suggested that ordering TikTok to leave Canada without banning the app “may actually make matters worse” because it would make it harder to enforce Canadian law against TikTok. Far better to let the company operate here, but pass law to address concerns about the possible misuse of the app.

We can assume the government thought the problem was more serious, and that TikTok’s offices here had to be closed down. But why?

There are only two possible reasons for the ban, and neither of them is convincing.

TikTok has been the object of controversy in Canada, the United States and countries around the world on the basis of its ties to the Chinese government.

TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance Inc., is based in Beijing. Under Chinese........

© The Conversation