Belgian federal government bans TikTok for officials

By Agnes Szucs

BRUSSELS (AA) – The Belgian federal government banned on Friday its officials to use Chinese video-sharing application TikTok, according to state-run media.

The National Security Council decided to forbid ministers, and all federal employees to use the social media platform on their professional devices, public broadcaster RTBF reported.

The government recommended that officials remove the application from their personal phones and tablets too.

The decision urged regional and local authorities to introduce similar interdiction for their personnel and called for vigilance in the private sector.

The Flemish regional government banned the application for its employees on Thursday, and the Wallonian government will discuss the measures later this month.

The move came after EU institutions and several governments, such as France and Canada, instructed their officials to uninstall TikTok amid security concerns that the application may give access to the Chinese secret service.