Belgium’s Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo, has issued a ban on federal officials using the TikTok app on their work phones, joining several other European countries and the EU in taking steps against the popular video-sharing app over concerns that Chinese authorities could access sensitive user data. De Croo cited a risk assessment by the country’s cybersecurity and intelligence agencies into potential espionage as the reason for the ban, which will be in place for six months but does not apply to personal phones.
In response to the ban, TikTok stated that it is disappointed and argued that it is not a Chinese company and that user data is not stored in China. TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, is majority-owned by global institutional investors. TikTok also announced that it is working with a third-party European security company to oversee how it handles data and that, from 2023, European user data will be stored in two centres in Dublin and one in Norway.
Western powers, including the US and EU, have become increasingly wary of TikTok, which is owned by a Chinese company. This move by Belgium is part of a broader trend of countries seeking to protect their sensitive data from potential espionage by foreign governments.
