During the election week, Reformierakond posted a TikTok of the Estonian prime minister inviting everyone to use their right to vote. The head of Reformierakond\u2019s digital channels Karoliina Lorenz said that the video was framed like a FaceTime call to provide a more personal message. Reformierakond has 1353 followers on their official TikTok account. @eesti_reformierakond on TikTok<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it safe?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of 2022, the Estonian Information System Authority (RIA) warned that people shouldn\u2019t be using TikTok on work phones because the app collects a lot more data than is needed. In addition, that data is stored outside the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of the Estonian coalition parties are aware of RIA\u2019s instructions. Sotsiaaldemokraatlik erakond has gotten letters from citizens who are worried about the party using TikTok, said K\u00e4triin Avarlaid. \u201cPeople have asked if we aren\u2019t afraid of using our [TikTok] account because of all the data leak and hacking risks.\u201d Avarlaid added that the party\u2019s communication team follows RIA\u2019s instructions, and the app is never used on politicians\u2019 work phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the risks associated with TikTok can be a reason or at least one of the reasons for deciding against creating an official TikTok account for the political party. A member of the management board for Eestimaa Rohelised, Liina Freivald, said that the most significant threat with using TikTok is the uncertainty of where the data goes. \u201cWe also don\u2019t want to support a big authoritarian country (China, G.J.) that hasn\u2019t claimed all the basic, important human rights,\u201d Freivald said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Birgit Remik\u00fcll, a member of the youngest conservative party in Estonia, Parempoolsed, said that although the main reason for the party\u2019s absence on TikTok is the lack of funding, the cybersecurity threats have also been a part of deciding against joining it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the largest political party in Estonia, Keskerakond, the main reason for not joining TikTok has been a lack of an expert for the job, said the party\u2019s head of communication Andres Kalvik. \u201cWe have also read about the [RIA\u2019s] warnings, but I don\u2019t think that there is a need to ring the alarm because there haven\u2019t been any known problems associated with cyber security issues on TikTok in Estonia,\u201d said Kalvik. \u201eBut I think that everyone must consider these risks before joining [TikTok].\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political parties EKRE and Isamaa didn\u2019t respond to the author\u2019s requests to do an interview.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The article focuses on political parties\u2019 official TikTok accounts. Communication strategies can also involve politicians\u2019 own TikTok accounts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All data was collected on March 25th 2023.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gretel Juhansoo 29.03.2023 Every fifth inhabitant in the Baltic states uses TikTok, Kantar Emor data shows. Still, not all political parties in Estonia have created an official account on one of the most popular social media apps today. The parties that have joined TikTok see it as a way to reach young people but fear […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1656","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n