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SPD MP Liebscher: “Olaf Scholz would certainly have to do it differently than me”
Photo: SPD Thuringia
Will the Chancellor soon be making TikTok videos? At a citizens' dialogue last week, Olaf Scholz advocated that the federal government should be present on the platform in the future. So far, even the Chancellor's SPD party has hardly been active there. With one exception: Thuringian state parliament member Lutz Liebscher has been using TikTok for a good four years. And with some success. What kind of experiences does Liebscher have? How does he deal with conspiracy theories and hate? And what should politicians not do?
SPIEGEL
: Mr. Liebscher, with 4.7 million likes you are one of the most successful German politicians on TikTok.
Has the Chancellor already asked you for advice?
Liebscher
: No, he didn't.
Olaf Scholz would certainly have to do it differently than me.
Nobody expects the Chancellor to combine current music trends with political messages.
What is crucial as Chancellor is to communicate authentically, i.e. seriously.
This also works on TikTok.
SPIEGEL
: Why did you start TikTok?
Liebscher
: I became a member of parliament in 2019.
I asked myself: How do you reach people?
When I distribute advertising at the information stand in the pedestrian zone, people can give me a wide berth.
In 2020 I signed up for TikTok.
With the platform I can access citizens' cell phones without them actively deciding to do so.
So the algorithm supports my political communication.
And it works: Suddenly students in Jena approached me on the street: “Hey, we always watch your videos in the shared apartment.” That had never happened to me before.
SPIEGEL
: What was your most successful video?
Liebscher
: A music trend from 2021 in which I criticize the AfD.
It has been played 3.4 million times and liked over 500,000 times.
SPIEGEL
: Scholz is late with his plea.
Has the SPD underestimated the importance of TikTok?
Liebscher
: Many people in politics didn't recognize the potential for a long time.
The thought was: This is just a children's platform.
Right-wing extremists, on the other hand, took advantage of this early on; they are all on TikTok.
The platform has almost 21 million users in Germany.
There is slowly a change in thinking in politics.
We see in Thuringia that many young people like the AfD.
Of course, this isn't just because of TikTok, but politicians have to go where the people are.
SPIEGEL
: Politicians on TikTok – that can also backfire.
Bundestag President Bärbel Bas experienced this two years ago when she reported from the corona quarantine with a children's song.
She received a lot of ridicule.
How do you avoid such embarrassments?
Liebscher
: I thought about joining TikTok myself, no social media consultant recommended it to me.
That's a point: you have to be authentic.
Of course the videos need a punchline and are very shortened.
However, it is not a good idea for politicians to register on the platform without having dealt with the specific method of communication.
SPIEGEL
: There are concerns that Chinese authorities are collecting information via the app.
Until now, federal government employees weren't even supposed to have the app on their work cell phones.
Don't you see the danger?
Liebscher
: Yes, but I don't know of any specific cases.
If concrete cases became known, I would draw my own conclusions.
I'd rather take the risk than leave TikTok to the AfD.
Fortunately, more and more colleagues see it that way.
There is currently a movement on TikTok that is trying to bring the power of the demonstrations against right-wing extremists online.
True to the motto: After the street, we Democrats are now showing online that we are clearly in the majority.
SPIEGEL
: The AfD is successful in social networks with conspiracy theories, populism and hatred.
Many politicians from other parties find it difficult to do so.
Do you have to explain boring politics with funny videos in order to beat the AfD?
Liebscher
: First of all, we simply have to ensure that the right-wing extremists and their nonsense are in the minority.
I try to bring a different perspective with my videos.
Actually, you should post a fact check under every questionable AfD video.
But this is not possible given the abundance of content.
SPIEGEL
: The SPD is fighting for re-entry into the state parliament in the September elections in your state of Thuringia.
Are you afraid of coming under the radar given the polarization between Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow, CDU top candidate Mario Voigt and AfD man Björn Höcke?
Liebscher
: The surveys put us between seven and ten percent.
In the 2021 federal election, we were the strongest force in Thuringia with 23.4 percent.
This shows the volatility here in the country.
The potential for the SPD is enormous.
We will permeate with a positive narrative and not try to score points with niche topics.
For Thuringians, it is specifically about good wages, stable pensions and investments in education such as improving the quality of care in kindergartens.