The app presents ‘an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security,’ says Treasury Board President Anita Anand.

Canada has banned the Chinese social media and messaging application WeChat and the Russian anti-virus program Kaspersky from government-issued mobile devices, citing security risks.

“Effective October 30, 2023, the WeChat and Kaspersky suite of applications will be removed from government-issued mobile devices,” said Treasury Board President Anita Anand in a statement released Oct. 30. “Users of these devices will also be blocked from downloading the applications in the future.”

Ms. Anand said the decision was made to keep “government information and networks secure,” pointing to the analysis from the Chief Information Officer of Canada that WeChat and Kaspersky present “an unacceptable level of risk to privacy and security.”