Following U.S. and E.U., Belgium bans TikTok from government phones

Shafaq News/ Belgium government decided to ban TikTok from government phones for at least six months over worries about cyber security and privacy.

Prime Minister Alexander de Croo said on Friday that the Belgian national security council had warned of the risks associated with the large amounts of data collected by TikTok and that the company must cooperate with Chinese intelligence services.

"We must not be naive: TikTok is a Chinese company that today is obliged to cooperate with the intelligence services. This is the reality. Prohibiting its use on federal service devices is common sense."

"The safety of our information must prevail." He added.

TikTok expressed disappointment at this step, which is "based on misinformation about our company."

The company stores user data in the U.S. and Singapore and builds European data centers. It said.

"The Chinese government can't force other sovereign nations to share data that is stored in their territory," a spokesman for the company said.

The company said it is "readily available to meet with officials to address any concerns and set the record straight on misconceptions."

Last month, the European Commission and the European Parliament banned TikTok from staff phones due to "growing concerns about the company and whether China's government could harvest users' data or advance its interests."