From Brussels to the "for you" page: Members of the European Parliament TikTok adoption and campaign use

Sofia Ferro-Santos; Rita Sepúlveda

doi:10.26441/RC25.1-2026-4303

Authors

Sofia Ferro-Santos Research and Studies Center in Sociology at ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal) https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1586-6339
Rita Sepúlveda Institute of Communication of Nova - Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal). https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4348-5637

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26441/RC25.1-2026-4303

Keywords:

TikTok, European Union, Politics, Politicians, Social Media

Abstract

Purpose. This study examines how Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) adopt and use TikTok with two research goals: identifying the determinants of adoption and analyzing platform use during the common campaign period of the 2024 European elections. Methodology. The dataset includes 719 MEPs from the 10th Parliamentary Term, coded for demographic, political, and social media variables. From this, 374 MEPs were found to have adopted TikTok. A subsample of 194 who posted at least once during the common campaign period was analyzed. Results and conclusions. Findings indicate that adoption is more strongly shaped by age, country, European political group size, and cross-platform presence, particularly Instagram, than by ideology. Campaign usage clustered into three typologies: intensive and continuous, sporadic, and episodic campaign-only activity. Crucially, campaign-specific bursts of posting did not increase engagement, suggesting sustained investment in TikTok yields greater visibility. TikTok’s adoption reflects not an ideological divide but a strategic negotiation between risks and communicative rewards. Regarding engagement, the Patriots for Europe Group leads in campaign-period likes, followed by Non-Attached Members, which is aligned with previous research on the strategic use of social media by far-right movements and independent campaigns. Original contributions. This study is the first to analyse TikTok adoption and use by MEPs during the electoral period in the context of an intensified regulatory scrutiny of TikTok by the European Commission over data privacy, content moderation, and election integrity.

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Author Biographies

Sofia Ferro-Santos, Research and Studies Center in Sociology at ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon (Portugal)

PhD in Communication Sciences, is a researcher at CIES-Iscte (Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia do Iscte - Instituto Universitário de Lisboa). Is currently a professor of Communication and Marketing at IADE, Universidade Europeia and a guest professor of Political Marketing at IPPS-Iscte. Her research focuses on political communication, mainly in social media platforms. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-1586-6339, sofia.ferro.santos@iscte-iul.pt
Rita Sepúlveda, Institute of Communication of Nova - Nova University of Lisbon (Portugal).

PhD in Communication Sciences, is a researcher at ICNOVA, Instituto de Comunicação da Nova - Nova University of Lisbon. Her research focuses on collective and dynamic expressions in digital environments concerning the transformation of intimacy in the context of the appropriation of digital platforms. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4348-5637, rsepulveda@fcsh.unl.pt

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