Minnesota legislators turn to TikTok to engage constituents

When state Rep. Larry Kraft arrived at the Minnesota Capitol for his first term as a legislator, he was not expecting to become widely known as "the TikTok guy."

"If you were to tell my kids a year ago that I'd be asked to be teaching people how to use TikTok, they would just think that was crazy," the St. Louis Park DFLer said. "I'm big on getting people civically engaged, and TikTok demystifies the legislative process."

As policymakers look for ways to increase their outreach, many Minnesota legislators are turning to TikTok to connect with younger audiences. But at the same time the app is gaining popularity among politicians, national security concerns have prompted crackdowns on use by federal and state employees.

TikTok is owned by a Chinese tech company, ByteDance. As the app has gained popularity in the U.S., government officials have expressed concerns about data mining and the spread of disinformation by the Chinese government.

In December, President Joe Biden signed off on a measure banning TikTok use on federally owned devices. Around the same time, Gov. Tim Walz said his team was looking into what a similar ban would look like in Minnesota, but no further action has been announced since then. More than half of U.S. states have bans in place.

While bans don't apply to elected officials, Kraft said he has heard concerns about legislators' TikTok use.

"I don't discount the concerns that folks have about the ownership of the platform, but I try to take responsible measures to use it in a way that protects my privacy and those of other folks that are involved," he said.

The app has been especially popular with legislators who, like Kraft, are new arrivals at the Capitol. Rep. Andy Smith, DFL-Rochester, recently garnered more than 50,000 views on a video about the state seal. Rep. Kim Hicks, also a Rochester DFLer, uses the app to give her followers weekly updates and "a quick, high-level overview" of what's going on at the Legislature.

Kraft has been using TikTok since he launched his state House campaign in 2022, but when one of his videos garnered 1.9 million views, more people started to pay attention.

In the viral video filmed by his 18-year-old, Kraft and his seatmate in the House chamber, Rep. Frank Hornstein, DFL-Minneapolis, are shown lip-synching to the popular TikTok song "Microwave Popcorn," created by comedian Bo Burnham.

Kraft uses his personal phone and connects to a secure network separate from the official legislative WiFi when he makes TikToks. Other state representatives who use the app, including Smith, have a similar process.

"It's such a complicated issue, but I think it is important," Smith said. "There's an odd focus on TikTok because of its ties to Chinese-owned companies. Companies like Apple or Meta have tremendous amounts of data mining on U.S. citizens, and that's worth talking about."

Like Kraft, Smith started using TikTok on the campaign trail. Since then, he has gained a predominantly younger audience.

"A lot of the audience that is on TikTok, which is primarily people my age, or definitely younger, are not normally the ones who will be watching cable TV," Smith said. "To reach those people, you got to go where they are."

After less than two months in office, Kraft said he has seen an increased interest in TikTok among fellow legislators. Moving forward, he said he hopes to continue to use the app to engage younger Minnesotans in state politics.

"It was super fun to have that go viral, and to become known as 'the TikTok guy,' which coming in as a first-term legislator to be known for that, was fun," Kraft said. "But I'm not doing it just to have fun. I'm doing it to connect with younger people who are so critical to our democracy."