German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he wants the government to open an account on TikTok.
While mainstream politicians and parties are starting to have a low key presence, parties such as the Alternative for Germany (AfD) are already leveraging the platform to connect with younger voters ahead of a slew of communal and state elections this year.
On Friday, a government spokesperson said Berlin still needed to check the situation thoroughly before launching an account, noting members of the federal press office could not access the app on their government phones.
“But fundamentally Tiktok is a platform that is especially intensely used by young people – and we have to recognise this despite all justified criticisms of the platform,” the spokesperson said.
