Why is the government spending $21-million advertising on social media such as TikTok?

Last year, the government spent almost $21 million on advertising on platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Snapchat.Anthony Jenkins/The Globe and MailVass Bednar is the founder of the newsletter Regs to Riches, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation and the executive director of McMaster University’s master of public policy in digital society program.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.One may feel inclined to dismiss the scuffle with TikTok in the United States – purportedly over national security concerns
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