The ban on the use of the Chinese social media app TikTok on devices of federal ministers and civil servants will be extended by six months, the National Security Council announced on Thursday.
The ban was introduced six months ago. As in many other countries, Belgium banned the use of TikTok by civil servants on their service devices at various policy levels – following concerns about how the app handles users' personal data.
TikTok is owned by China's ByteDance and has come under fire since the tech company admitted that certain employees had access to the data of American and European users.
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As reasons for the temporary ban in March, the Federal Government referred to the fact that TikTok’s algorithms allow it to manipulate the flow of information and content, and that, under Chinese law, TikTok is required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence agencies.
When the ban was introduced, it was agreed that the measure would apply for six months and that an evaluation would then follow. Now, after analysis, the ban is set to be extended.
Formal approval by the Council of Ministers is expected to follow on Friday.
