European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will not be using TikTok in her campaign for the June EU elections as the “security concerns” are present, according to Euarctiv.
Her main campaign spokesman, Alexander Winterstein, made this announcement about not using TikTok in the upcoming elections, despite von der Leyen’s main goal of engaging citizens with an innovative and personal approach.
Ursula von der Leyen is the leading candidate of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), and she will campaign in “as many countries as possible” to garner support from national member parties. According to Winterstein, one of her campaign strategies is to make the tone of her voice “personal” and “dynamic” so that people know who von der Leyen is beyond her work as Commission president: “It should not be more of the same.”
Von der Leyen, the former German defence minister who unexpectedly became head of the Commission in 2019, unveiled her campaign logo and image this week: “Together we can make Europe stronger and safer. Because Europe is much more than a Union. It is our Home.”
The EPP party will not use TikTok, a social media platform used by the younger generation mainly between the ages of 18 and 34, although it has an account that has not been used since last May.
Nevertheless, the European Green Party uses TikTok, as does the Party of European Socialists (PES), which regularly posts videos of its leading candidate Nicolas Schmit. The European Parliament is preparing to use TikTok in its “Use Your Voice” campaign.
However, earlier last year, the Parliament and Commission banned its use on corporate devices for cybersecurity reasons. But Parliament posted its first TikTok video in late February, with the ban on using the platform on institutional devices still in place.
The first ban on a Chinese-owned social media app occurred at the European Commission when the IT department required employees to remove TikTok from corporate devices in December as potential spying and misinformation remain even with precautions.
A number of right-wing far-right politicians have become experts at using the app to garner support, especially among younger voters. In February, when TikTok shared its preparations for the EU elections, the platform mentioned that around 30 per cent of MEPs are registered with TikTok.
