On Friday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo banned federal officials from using TikTok on their work phones, making his the latest country to take steps against the Chinese-owned video app. Many nations in Europe have already restricted TikTok for government employees, over worries, the authorities in China could use the video-sharing network to access sensitive user data.
The European Union’s governing organizations also told staff in recent weeks to remove the app from smartphones and laptops, used for work purposes.
“We shouldn’t be naive: TikTok is a Chinese business that is currently obliged to cooperate with the Chinese intelligence services.”
De Croo-Belgian PM said.
The Belgian step follows a risk review into possible spying by the country’s cybersecurity and intelligence agencies. It does not hide the usage of the TikTok app on the private phones of civil servants, ministers, or lawmakers.
Western powers, including the European Union and the United States, have been taking an increasingly tough approach to the app, which is owned by Chinese company ByteDance.
On Wednesday, TikTok launched a new stimulation to satisfy European concerns over security, saying the firm was functioning with a third-party European security company to oversee and check how it manages data.
TikTok says its European user data will be stored at two centers in Dublin and one in Norway from 2023 onwards.
