Belgian government bans TikTok on official phones

BRUSSELS: Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo on Friday banned federal officials from using TikTok on their work phones, making his the latest country to take steps against the Chinese app.

A number of national governments in Europe have already restricted TikTok for government employees, over fears the authorities in Beijing could use the video-sharing network to access sensitive user data.

The European Union´s governing institutions also told staff in recent weeks to purge 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 said. The Belgian move -- in place for a preliminary six months -- follows a risk assessment into potential espionage by the country´s cybersecurity and intelligence agencies.