The Belgian government bans the TikTok app from its employees
TikTok app logo (illustration photo).
© REUTERS / FLORENCE LO
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
It was in Brussels that the ban on TikTok began in Europe, with the first uninstallation injunctions issued at the end of February by the European Commission, then by the European Parliament and Council.
In line with bans at EU level, Belgium decided on Friday March 10 to follow suit and ban politicians and federal government employees from the Chinese application, which belongs to the company ByteDance.
A ban which, however, risks remaining confined to the professional level.
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With our correspondent in Brussels,
Pierre Benazet
The Belgian Prime Minister does not want to be “
naive
”, TikTok is “
obligated to cooperate with the Chinese intelligence services
”.
"
It's a reality
", according to Alexander De Croo.
The application is therefore prohibited for six months to federal civil servants, ministers and their cabinets, after which time an assessment of the effects of this prohibition will be carried out.
It applies to all phones and mobile devices whose purchase, subscription or use is related – even if only in part – to the federal government.
It is a series of domino bans that we are witnessing in Belgium, because the Flemish region has already asked its employees and officials on Thursday to uninstall TikTok;
it should be followed by the Brussels region and Wallonia.
However, it should be noted that several Belgian politicians are sending contradictory signals this Friday.
Several of them, including federal ministers, have announced their intention to remain present on the Chinese social network.
The Minister-President of Wallonia, champion of the number of subscribers on TikTok, wants regional staff to uninstall the application, but believes that he must continue to communicate via TikTok in order to inform the youngest and counter misinformation and extremist parties .
TikTok banned on smartphones of federal personnel, by decision of the National Security Council and advice from our intelligence services.
We call on regional, provincial and local authorities to do the same.
https://t.co/GOizAk81qO
— Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) March 10, 2023
►Also read TikTok: strong Chinese reaction to the positions adopted in the West on its social network
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