Bundestag: Klöckner wants to conquer TikTok – Data protectionists protest

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner (CDU) is reorganizing the Bundestag's social media department and making the parliament's activities on social networks a top priority. The previous social media department will be dissolved and responsibility will be transferred to the parliament's press office, reports the newsletter Politico Playbook. The press office will be headed by Mathias Paul, a close confidant of Klöckner. According to the report, the President wants the Bundestag to be represented on TikTok in the future.

The Bundestag is currently significantly expanding its online presence. At the end of last week, the Budget Committee approved five additional posts for the parliament's social media team for the 2025 federal budget, reports Politico. The reason for this is the sharp increase in the number of users and interactions on the existing accounts as well as the planned expansion.

However, Klöckner's plans are controversial. In particular, the planned use of TikTok has met with resistance. A leaked report by the parliamentary scientific service points to considerable concerns for the Bundestag's data protection commissioner.

Among other things, the Scientific Service bases its opinion on the recommendation of the Federal Data Protection Authority, which is responsible for parliament. This authority advises federal public bodies"not to use TikTok on official devices under any circumstances". At the same time, there is already a regulatory ban on the use of Facebook fan pages in the ranks of the federal government, the legality of which is currently being reviewed in court.

Many unanswered questions

In her public assessment, Federal Data Protection Commissioner Louisa Specht-Riemenschneider criticizes the fact that the short video service operated by Chinese parent company ByteDance has come to the attention of European inspectors "several times due to a lack of compliance with data protection regulations". The app has been repeatedly criticized for processing the data of minors without the consent of their legal guardians and without a legal basis. The Irish data protection authority had already imposed a fine of 345 million euros on TikTok in 2023 for manipulative designs.

Specht-Riemenschneider lists that the provider has also often failed to comply with its transparency and information obligations. The non-compliant handling of cookies has also been penalized. There are repeated complaints about the lack of age verification. In 2024, the EU Commission also initiated formal proceedings against TikTok for possible violations of the Digital Services Act (DSA).

The Data Protection Commissioner of the Bundestag also points out that, according to the provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), an agreement on joint data protection responsibility would have to be concluded before the service is used. TikTok may not be prepared to do this. The inspector advises clarifying open data protection issues in advance in a binding manner. He recommends "certain minimum technical and organizational measures" everywhere.

"Trendy gifs" as a copyright problem

According to the report, other legal issues also play a major role in this context: it is still questionable, for example, whether and how "trendy sounds, memes and viral GIFs" can be used correctly in terms of copyright. The legal department would have to be involved before a possible launch.

"Democratic participation begins with visibility", says the Research Service. "Particularly at a time when extreme content and disinformation on TikTok are achieving a lot of reach, a counterpoint could be set with understandable, approachable and platform-compatible content." Furthermore, it would be possible to explain complex parliamentary contexts simply on this platform – as on other – platforms, and to get young people interested in democratic processes.

(vbr)