Germany’s Scholz embraces TikTok, ‘to connect with a younger audience’
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has become the latest Western political leader to open an account on TikTok, an ultrapopular video-sharing platform.
In the first video posted by Scholz’s account, the German Chancellor sits at his desk, showing a glimpse of his office. He also announced his TikTok channel on X, formerly Twitter, saying “I won’t dance. Promised.” according to the DW.
According to German government spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit, the TikTok channel aims to connect with a younger audience, as the German government “has to go where citizens go to get information.”
Before Scholz, senior Western politicians including US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, Simon Harris, Ireland’s prime ministerin-waiting and German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach have all created TikTok accounts.
A Politico report on Monday believes that embracing TikTok is more linked to election campaigning and attracting younger voters. Scholz’s decision marks “a new approach” from the German government, which has previously ordered its ministries’ staff to shun the app on work-related devices.
He Zhigao, a research fellow with the Institute of European Studies from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday that TikTok is a popular entertainment platform for most people, and when political figures have presence on it, it helps shape an image of being people-friendly. Moreover, as a combination of globalization and technological development, TikTok represents a general trend of the times.
As a commercial app, TikTok is bound to face competition, and even legal or political restraints in other countries, but a growing numbers of Western politicians are choosing to sign up to TikTok, which shows TikTok’s vitality and worldwide influence, He said.
Given Scholz is scheduled to travel to China in mid-April, opening a TikTok account before the trip to some extent shows his pragmatic attitude toward China, He noted.