Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer has launched a TikTok account despite the app being banned on government devices, as part of his effort to engage younger voters. A spokesperson for his office said that “security mitigations” have been put in place to allow the Prime Minister to operate the account safely.In his first video, Starmer invited viewers to follow him while appearing with his wife at the Downing Street Christmas lights ceremony.
A second clip showed him being greeted by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky outside 10 Downing Street, before joining France’s President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for discussions on proposals to end the war in Ukraine. The UK government banned TikTok on official devices in March 2023 due to data security concerns related to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, a policy also reflected in other Western nations. A previous “10 Downing Street” account launched under Boris Johnson in May 2022 stopped posting after just three months. Starmer’s spokesperson confirmed that restrictions on TikTok for most government devices remain unchanged.
The move is part of Starmer’s broader effort to connect with the public amid low popularity ratings. Last Friday, he also launched a Substack newsletter highlighting government efforts to address child poverty, saying, “Communication is changing, and I want to be a part of that… That’s why I’m now on Substack.”
The government has increasingly engaged with social media influencers, with two personal finance creators recently given front-row access at a press briefing. Despite data security concerns, TikTok remains hugely popular, with around 1.5 billion users globally, including over 30 million in the UK. Starmer joins other world leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump, and Anthony Albanese, on the platform.
Source: https://guardian.ng/
