Politicians dumping TikTok after election campaigns over privacy concerns

Dutch parliamentarians embraced TikTok en masse in the run-up to the last elections, but many have since deleted the app, BNR found after a survey of the Tweede Kamer, the lower house of the Dutch parliament. Privacy concerns are often the reason for abandoning the social media platform.

BNR asked 50 parliamentarians with TikTok accounts to what extent they use the app. Half of them responded. Eleven accounts turned out to be fake, and 15 actually belonged to parliamentarians. Seven of those MPs said that they’d deleted the app.

CDA parliamentarian Derk Boswijk said he stopped using TikTok “because of the privacy/China link.” VVD MP Queeny Rajkowski would “rather be safe than sorry.” PvdD MPs Johnas van Lammeren and Leonie Vestering deleted the app because their party “is very concerned about TikTok and the infringement it makes on our privacy.”

GroenLinks MP Kauthar Bouchallikht told BNR she deletes TikTok after each use. “She does this as a precaution,” a GroenLinks spokesperson explained. “She thinks it is important to communicate with her supporters, but she also sees risks.”

D66 parliamentarians Faisal Boulakjar and Anne-Marijke Podt deleted the app for other reasons. Many other MPs told BNR that they use the platform but don’t have the app on their phones.

In December, TikTok's parent company ByteDance admitted that it had spied on Buzzfeed and Financial Times journalists through the app. The Tweede Kamer organization takes this into account and launched an information campaign to make parliamentarians aware of the risks, a spokesperson said to the broadcaster. MPs are free to use TikTok because “in principle, they must have access to all (information) channels that they consider necessary for the performance of their duties,” the spokesperson said. But they must also be aware of the risks and take “technical measures” to ensure that their work phones remain secure.

The national government has advised the Ministries to be “reticent” with using TikTok and to not advertise on the social media platform. A spokesperson for the Public and Communications Department (DPC) told the broadcaster that the advice remains in force. DPC spoke to TikTok and “indicated that the advice can be adjusted if TikTok adjusts its policy and complies with the laws and regulations.”

Last year, the coalition party ChristenUnie pushed for TikTok to be banned in the Netherlands in its current form. Responsible State Secretary Alexandra van Huffelen (D66) previously said she is awaiting an investigation by the Irish regulator before taking any measures against the app. The results of the Irish study are expected in “early 2023.”

TikTok told BNR that it takes privacy “very seriously” and that spying on the Buzzfeed and Financial Times journalists was a “misguided initiative of a few individuals.” The individuals involved were punished, a spokesperson said. According to the TikTok spokesperson, the Buzzfeed and Financial Times journalists were the only victims.