When the U.S. Senate passed a bill in December to restrict the use of TikTok on government-issued devices, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau noted that “we are watching what the Americans are doing.” But the government does more than just watch – it spent $21-million advertising on the likes of TikTok last year.
As we scroll these days, we may notice a government-promoted post, which means that we as taxpayers have paid to post information on a platform and push it into people’s feeds. The $21-million spent last year is at the crest of a steady increase over the years, up from $7.8-million in 2017. On TikTok specifically, the Government of Canada spent $1.7-million on ads last year, up 128 per cent from the previous year.
