Belgium has introduced a ban on the use of the Chinese AI tool DeepSeek within its federal parliament. Parliamentary officials said that access to the service has been blocked on both wired and wireless networks used inside the institution. The decision follows concerns about how the platform handles personal data and whether information processed through the service could be accessed outside the European Union. The restriction applies to all parliamentary devices and to anyone connected to the internal network.
The move comes after a complaint filed with Belgium’s data protection authority. The complaint raised questions about the company’s data handling practices and whether the service complies with European privacy requirements. The authority has opened an investigation to examine how DeepSeek collects, stores and processes personal information. The outcome may influence how widely the ban is applied across public sector organisations.
Other European countries have already taken action regarding the service. Italy has introduced a national ban after concerns about transparency in the company’s privacy policy. Regulators in France and Ireland have also reviewed the platform and are examining how user data is handled. Reports from these countries focus on the possibility that data may be transferred to servers located in jurisdictions that do not follow European data protection standards.
Belgian lawmakers said that the decision to block the service was made to prevent any risk to parliamentary data. They said that public institutions must avoid tools that do not demonstrate clear safeguards for sensitive information. Officials stated that further restrictions may be considered once the data protection authority completes its review.
The restriction in Belgium adds to a broader European debate about the use of foreign artificial intelligence tools in public institutions. Governments are evaluating whether these tools meet legal obligations concerning privacy, security and data storage. The concern centres on the possibility that data entered into such systems could be accessed by foreign authorities or used for purposes not permitted under European law.
Belgium has not indicated whether the ban will extend to other government agencies. For now, the measure applies only to parliamentary systems, but this may change depending on the findings of the ongoing investigation. Authorities have said that they intend to publish updates once they have reviewed the results.