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CBC
5 minutes ago
- CBC
TikTok Canada is closing soon. The Beaches and bbno$ warn it will hurt homegrown artists
In 2021, a TikTok of Canadian rapper bbno$ raising his eyebrows to the beat of his single "Edamame" started gaining traction — and eventually changed the course of his career. The platform's Canadian team suggested he recreate the clip with a safari-themed filter, then helped push it globally. "When that happened, the song just skyrocketed," he says of the track, which features Indonesian rapper Rich Brian and went six-times Platinum in various countries. bbno$ is among several Canadian artists worried about losing social media support that can make or break their careers as TikTok prepares to comply with a federal order to shut down its operations in Canada. For Canadian musicians, TikTok can be as vital as radio play once was. Its algorithm lets songs leap borders instantly, offering emerging acts — especially racialized artists facing barriers in traditional channels — a shot at global reach. With Ottawa's dissolution order set to take effect soon, TikTok Canada's team has been running campaigns to show its value — and Canadian artists are rallying behind them. "Being an artist in this generation is like, you're basically a TikTokker," says the Juno-winning rapper, born Alexander Gumuchian. "Without having a TikTok team that I can relay information to — that could help me get banners, help me when things are starting to bubble — I'm losing ammunition to help fire my career up." Concerns around access to user data behind government's move In November 2024, Ottawa ordered TikTok's Canadian arm to dissolve following a national security review of its Chinese parent company, ByteDance Ltd., though the app will remain accessible in Canada. The order cited "national security risks" but a government spokesperson declined to provide specifics due to "confidentiality provisions." Social media researcher Philip Mai says there are concerns around potential Chinese government access to user data, foreign surveillance of Canadians in sensitive sectors and misuse of information for propaganda. "China's National Intelligence Law legally permits data access, raising plausible risk concerns," says the co-director of the Social Media Lab at the Ted Rogers School of Management. Canada has ordered TikTok's offices closed. Should you still be on the app? 10 months ago The federal government has ordered TikTok to close its offices in Canada because of national security concerns. CBC's Ashley Fraser explains what we know and don't know about that risk. Still, no public evidence shows TikTok has shared user data with the Chinese government, and the company denies it. Mai says shutting down TikTok Canada reduces its physical and legal presence in the country, limiting the platform's potential for data surveillance and its ability to influence policy or public opinion. "This strategy is less extreme than banning TikTok, but more than a slap on the wrist," he says. bbno$ says the platform's Canadian team has helped bolster his social media presence. Without it, he warns, many Canadian artists will face a "bottleneck" in their careers. Juno-winning Toronto band The Beaches says TikTok Canada has been "instrumental" in their rise. "Without local teams championing Canadian musicians internationally, we're left competing with American artists as outsiders, not as domestic talent," says the group in a statement. "This puts us at a disadvantage and pushes Canadian artists to leave the country just to have a shot at global success." Though The Beaches have enjoyed Canadian radio airplay for years, their single "Blame Brett" went viral on TikTok in 2023, helping them reach the U.S. Billboard charts for the first time. Mai warns TikTok Canada's closure would be a "big blow to Canadian artists," reducing opportunities, support systems, grant programs and sponsorships. "Forcing the closure of TikTok's Canadian operation will likely decrease Canadian visibility in the algorithm," he says, noting local staff often boost regional content via tailored campaigns, including ones highlighting Indigenous creators. Last month, TikTok CEO Steven Chew asked Minister of Industry Melanie Joly for an urgent meeting, warning that shutting down TikTok Canada would force layoffs, halt investments and pull support from creators and culture. "The wind-up process is rapidly approaching a critical juncture," Chew wrote. TikTok declined to provide a date and to say whether it has heard back from Joly, who did not respond to questions about the meeting request. Loss for racialized alum of TikTok's Accelerator program, creators say The platform recently withdrew sponsorships for several Canadian arts institutions, including the Juno Awards and TIFF, and slashed the National Screen Institute's TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators, which has supported nearly 400 participants since 2021. Indigenous hoop dancer James Jones says the federal government's shutdown order shows a disregard for the country's digital creators. "It's really unfortunate that they are taking away a team that has been so supportive of the BIPOC community and the Indigenous community," says the Edmonton-based creator, who boasts over four million followers. "I don't think that anyone has ever asked us what we wanted or even reached out and said, `Hey, how is this going to affect you?"' Jones says early in his career, TikTok Canada offered advice on maximizing his reach and facilitating key connections with brands and publications. He says its Accelerator program has helped many Indigenous creators and small businesses. Jones feels the government is sending a message that "we're not being prioritized." "They don't care what happens to us, they don't care about our businesses, our brands," he says. "They don't care about how it affects us personally to not have access to a team that supports us directly." Vanessa Brousseau, an advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous people, says the government's decision feels "really painful, but familiar." "It feels like a pattern and a way of oppressing minorities, oppressing Indigenous people," says the alum of the TikTok Accelerator for Indigenous Creators. "TikTok is the only platform that amplifies our voices and makes sure we're being heard." Brousseau worries that if the decision isn't reversed, it will be "very detrimental" to Indigenous TikTok creators.
CBC
35 minutes ago
- CBC
Hamilton gets cameo in hit horror video game Phasmophobia
Social Sharing When players from around the world load up the popular, UK-produced horror video game Phasmophobia, one of the levels they can choose to play is a big farmhouse with a large porch, sitting in a dark rural landscape. When you enter the house, you will find a few unassuming envelopes on a welcome mat on the floor. After a closer look, players from Ontario may see a familiar city address on the envelopes: "Bleasdale Farm, Hamilton, ON L8R 2L2." "My first reaction was disbelief," said Nicole Sharpe, who has been playing the video game since October 2024. "I was also very eager to figure out why such a specific Hamilton address was [chosen]," said the Hamilton-born player. While the farm is fictional, the postal code is real — a location in downtown Hamilton, off James Street North. As it turns out, it was chosen at random. Well, kind of. Phasmophobia is a four-person co-operative horror video game where players, using ghost-hunting equipment, must investigate a haunted location to figure out what type of ghost they're dealing with. The award-winning game came out in 2020 and quickly gained popularity on Steam — a popular storefront and management platform for PC games — as people looked for things to do while in pandemic lockdowns and quarantine. The team behind the game is mostly based in Southampton, England, and the game takes place in the United States, so shortly after the level was revamped, some players in the Hamilton quickly started wondering about the choice of the location. "My initial theory was one of the [developers] had close ties to Hamilton in some way," said Sharpe. But turns out the truth behind this location is a bit simpler than that. 'It's nice to be recognized' The Bleasdale Farm location used to be a rundown farmhouse. It was re-released earlier this year as a big, beautiful home. The game's level designer, Ben Lawson, said the idea of having the setting of the farm be in Hamilton came from a painting in the house. "In my head, the old beardy guy … is Canadian," he said in email to CBC Hamilton through Kinetic Games's media team. The studio produced the game. "It was one of those quick ideas that just came to me in the moment, and it stuck." After some research, Lawson chose a random postal code that ended up being in the city's downtown core — on James Street North between Mulberry and Colbourne streets — a very different scenery from the remote, rural farm, which another team member said it's "quite funny." "Maybe we could play it off as this alternate universe or something," said Corey Dixon, art director at Kinetic Games. Sharpe, the player who is now based in Kitchener, Ont., said she was "disappointed" to find out the reason it was chosen. For her, though, it's still nice to have a city with a "bad rep" like Hamilton getting some love. "It's nice to see it be recognized more," Sharpe said. Another Ontario player, Julia Munro, said even though a deeper reason for the name would have been cool, "the fact that it's kind of random is also very funny." Munro's first reaction was "mostly confusion," when she saw the address, especially when looking up the postal code just to discover it was close to Hamilton's downtown. "I thought it was funny that it's also in such a busy city area … and yet in game, it's like some abandoned house in the middle of a farm," said Munro, who lives in St. Catharines. She said out of all the places in Canada they could have chosen for the map, she's glad the developers of the game chose Hamilton to get the spotlight instead of a bigger city like Toronto or Vancouver. The story of Bleasdale The revamping of Bleasdale and another level called Grafton Farmhouse took around three to four months each, Dixon said. Dixon said though there are many story elements placed in the house — referred to by players as a map — a lot of it is purposefully made vague for players to fill in the blanks. He said for the back story of the locations, the team came up with the idea of an older couple who live in Bleasdale. "We added the idea of maybe their granddaughter comes to stay, but they don't really get on with her very well, so she gets put up in the attic," he said, where concert posters that took place in Ottawa are also placed. "The story that we're trying to push a little bit is that maybe she came from Grafton before it was abandoned... and then she had to move in with her grandparents in Bleasdale." Dixon said their player base is notorious for noticing small details and connecting them to the real world, something he enjoys. "It's really nice that people [pay attention to] something as minor as an address on a letter, and people connect with that," he said. "We'll make sure to keep doing these places where people play the game and people are excited to see the name." But this experience also taught him to be a bit wary in future. "What if we put a map somewhere, and then [a player is] like, 'oh, my God, that's down this route from me,'" he said.
CTV News
an hour ago
- CTV News
All Shook Up: Youth theatre company bringing Elvis-inspired musical to Halifax audiences
Brianne Foley visits a youth theatre group that's getting ready to stage a Broadway favourite in Halifax. A Nova Scotia youth theatre company is hitting a high note with its biggest production yet. The South Shore Summer Theatre's Elvis-inspired musical 'All Shook Up' features young performers from across the province. ADVERTISEMENT The musical, which is based on 'Twelfth Night' by William Shakespeare, first premiered on Broadway 20 years ago. 'It's a musical about this roustabout that comes into town, and he shakes everything up because it's like a drab town, there's not much fun and colour, it's very dull and he comes and he basically brightens it up,' said performer Sofia Andreu. Andreu has been with the summer theatre since 2022. She took part in its first show, 'Jesus Christ Superstar,' and has been involved in every production since. This year marks the first time the group will perform at the Bella Rose Arts Centre in Halifax. 'Our cast almost doubled, we're at 30 this year, so we needed a space that was a little bigger, a little more modern, it has air-conditioning, which is really important with a big cast,' said stage manager Jennifer Lehman. The South Shore Summer Theatre was co-founded by Jerri Southcott with the goal of giving rural Nova Scotians a chance to work with professionals for free. 'They get music, dance, choreography and theatre experience at no cost to them. We've raised money in the community, we get grants, money from all levels of government, and breaking down that economic barrier for people to be able to participate and have a stage and be creative and artistic was really important to me,' Southcott said. All Shook Up The cast of the South Shore Summer Theatre's production of 'All Shook Up." (Source: Facebook/southshoresummertheatre) Andreu describes the group as like a second family. 'I love the experience of getting to perform, even if it's a small part, it's just still so fun, and you make such great friends and connections,' she said. 'It's important because I get to meet all different types of people and get to know people that I may not typically talk to or be around outside of this program, and so I've met so many incredible people and it's been really nice.' Southcott says anyone who loves Elvis, fun and Shakespeare will also love 'All Shook Up.' 'You will come out remembering and singing the music, the arrangements of the Elvis Presley music. Very musical theatre but memorable, interesting, the harmonies, phenomenal. These kids are really talented,' she said. 'All Shook Up' is at the Bella Rose Arts Centre Wednesday through Saturday. With files from CTV Atlantic's Brianne Foley. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
