Chancellor Scholz and Bundeswehr tap TikTok for recruitment drive
Chancellor Scholz now has his own TikTok account. The Ministry of Defence also plans to launch a channel there for recruiting purposes. Meanwhile, according to a survey conducted by the public opinion research institute Civey, three-quarters of Germans are in favour of reinstating compulsory military service.
"To compete for the best minds, using TikTok is essential," announced a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence. In this context, the Bundeswehr, as an employer, will take a new approach to using TikTok from the end of May as a specially designed campaign.
The magazine Der Spiegel was the first to report on using TikTok for personnel recruitment. According to the ministry spokesperson, the Bundeswehr must reach out to young people so they can obtain valuable information and communicate digitally between themselves and the institution.
Special measures regarding the use of TikTok are to be introduced. These include technical separation between the Bundeswehr's networks and the TikTok platform. End devices should be used without access to the Bundeswehr's IT infrastructure. TikTok software is still neither authorized nor approved in official IT systems.
"Der Spiegel" writes that the German Ministry of Defence is working on short advertising clips in which the Bundeswehr is presented as an attractive employer. Similar materials have already been posted on YouTube and Instagram.
The German government launched its first TikTok channel at the beginning of April under the handle @TeamBundeskanzler. It aims to reach out to young citizens who rarely use traditional media. According to a survey conducted by the market research institute Appinio at the end of 2022, TikTok has over 20 million German users and is the most commonly used app among people aged between 14 and 25.
they want compulsory military service
The Bundeswehr wants to attract recruits, and three-quarters of Germans favour reinstating compulsory military service. This results from an online survey conducted by the public opinion research institute Civey on behalf of the Web.de News platform.
In response to the question, "Should a one-year compulsory service for young men and women in the armed forces or social institutions be introduced?" 75 percent of respondents answered "yes." Sixty-one percent are "definitely" and 14 percent are "somewhat" in favour of such a solution. Nineteen percent are against it, and 6 percent are undecided.
Regarding political parties in Germany, support for the reinstatement of compulsory military service is highest among potential voters of the CDU and CSU, with 89 percent in favour. This solution also has considerable support among SPD (75 percent), AfD (73 percent), Green (68 percent), and FDP (61 percent) supporters. Only among potential voters of the Left party are the majority (55 percent) against it.
