If you can't beat 'em? European politicians embrace TikTok despite security fears
Simon Harris became Ireland's prime minister-in-waiting in March, he turned to a favoured platform to express himself: TikTok.
In a video with 'THANK YOU' written in yellow lettering, the man who will be Ireland's youngest Taoiseach told his 95,000 followers of his rise from an «opinionated, moody teenager» bristling at lack of educational help for his autistic brother.
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With European elections approaching in June, mainstream politicians are wary of ceding ground to fringe parties who have successfully exploited its short video format.
But TikTok is under increasing scrutiny in the West due to fears that user data from the app owned by Beijing-based company ByteDance could end up in the hands of the Chinese government.
Germany's security agencies, for example, have warned against using the app over concerns it could share data with China's government or be used to influence users.
In the U.S., lawmakers want to force a sale of the platform by its Chinese owner or ban it from app stores. President Joe Biden has raised
