Following a ban implemented last year, which enabled exceptions for the likes of law enforcement and online harms research, ministers have revealed communicators can also sometimes use the video app
Civil service communications professionals are empowered to communicate messages via TikTok “in exceptional circumstances” – despite the use of the video app being banned on government devices.
The ban was implemented in March last year by the previous administration, and remains in place under the new Labour government.
At the time it was announced, ministers said that some “specific exemption… [were] being put in place”. These allowances would “only be granted by security teams on a case-by-case basis, with ministerial clearance as appropriate, and with security mitigations put in place”.
“These exemptions will cover areas such as individuals working in relevant enforcement roles, or for example for the purposes of work on online harms,” said the government announcement issued in March 2023.
According to Georgia Gould, a junior minister in the Cabinet Office, exceptions can also be made for civil servants working in communications roles to use TikTok. Gould, the Labour MP for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale, was asked by Conservative member John Glen to set out “the policy of the Government Communication Service is on promoting government communications on: TikTok; WeChat; and Telegram”.
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“The government uses a range of channels to reach and engage the public,” the minister answered. Any use of these platforms would be assessed against the high standards for digital safety set out in the Government Communication Service (GCS) SAFE framework. Neither WeChat or Telegram are currently used to promote government communications. Currently TikTok can only be used in exceptional circumstances.”
While Gould did not specify nor provide examples of what might constitute such “exceptional circumstances”, PublicTechnology understands permitted uses of the video platform are likely to include urgent public safety-related messages – particularly those for which government wishes to reach as broad an audience as possible, including younger people.
It is understood that the riots that took place in summer of this year are likely to have constituted one such example where issuing communications via TikTok would have been permitted. Other cases might include the likes of terror threats or extreme weather.
Day-to-day planned comms activities – as with almost all other uses of TikTok by civil servants – remain prohibited.
The SAFE framework referred to by Gould is intended to set out “standards for digital brand safety in HM Government… [and] is underpinned by four principles: safety and suitability; ads context; freedom of speech; [and] ethics and enforcement”, the document says.
While there is no definitive data, most estimates suggest TikTok has between 15 and 20 million users in this country.
The UK government’s prohibition of the app follows similar moves made by the regimes of other countries. Such decisions have, in large part, been was prompted by concerns regarding Chinese laws which, according to various experts, can compel companies operating in the country to provide information when demanded by intelligence agencies.
