– I’ve never had TikTok.
That was Conservative leader Erna Solberg’s crystal clear message to TV 2 in the Storting on Thursday.
She was so sure that she said it twice.
Now the opposition leader admits that she was wrong. Erna Solberg hair namely had TikTok, which she told the press already in 2020.
And not only that – she had TikTok on her official mobile while she was prime minister.
Remembered wrong
It is strictly speaking not news that Solberg is among the politicians who have downloaded the controversial app.
Her use of the app became public knowledge already in May 2020. Then she told VG that she had the app, but that she hadn’t published anything there.
Solberg, who was prime minister at the time, had taken part in a dance video with nurses at Rikshospitalet. The dance video went viral.
Later that year, the news agency NTB was able to reveal that TikTok had been installed on several mobile phones in the government, without the security being assessed.
VIRAL: In May 2020, then Prime Minister Erna Solberg (H) recorded a dance video together with nurses Ida Larsson Gerø and Marie Bachke Lian at Rikshospitalet. The video was shared on TikTok, and in that connection Solberg downloaded the app to his own service mobile phone. Photo: Ørn E. Borgen / NTB
Solberg then confirmed that she had used the TikTok app in connection with the dance video she was in in May.
– After that, I have not used the app, nor do I have it on my phone, she told NTB.
So why did she deny this now, in 2023?
– I just have to apologize that I forgot this in the rush when I answered you yesterday. I should have remembered that, not least because I have told about the episode before, says Solberg to TV 2.
– As I told both VG and NTB in 2020, I had the app for a short period because I was curious after participating in a TikTok dance with nurses on the occasion of Nurses’ Day. But as I also said in 2020, I quickly deleted it.
Bans introduced
Erna Solberg was not alone. Henrik Asheim and Tina Bru, today’s deputy leaders in the Conservative Party, also had the app on their mobile while they were in government.
Finally, Solberg took action.
– Later in 2020, we issued a message to the ministers in my government that we thought this was not a good idea to have on the phone, she says.
TikTok at the Storting:
These politicians have TikTok on their phone
– It was a political decision, as the advice from the security authorities was simply that everyone must make their own precautionary assessment. After this, my user profile has only been linked to the mobile phone of an employee in the party’s communications department, and a separate social media phone the party purchased.
TikTok is one of the world’s most popular apps with more than two billion downloads globally.
When the app is controversial, it is because it is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance, which collects large amounts of data about its users. The fear has been that such information could end up in the hands of the Chinese authorities.
Pressure against the Minister of Justice
It is Justice and Emergency Services Minister Emilie Enger Mehl’s use of TikTok that has made the matter relevant again.
The case has been pushed forward through a series of articles in Dagbladet in recent months, while the opposition has followed up with a number of questions in the Storting.
In an interview with TV 2 on Wednesday, Mehl publicly admitted for the first time that she had had TikTok on the government mobile phone. Mehl said in the interview that she had downloaded the app to her “ungraded service phone” from the end of August/September last autumn to one of the first days in October.
An ungraded service phone means a normal government mobile.
– The members of the government have completely ordinary mobile phones where they normally have access to read e-mail, explains Anne Kristin Hjukse, head of communications at the Prime Minister’s office.
According to her, the ministers receive their mobile phones from their ministry. They also receive advice on the safe use of mobile phones from the ministry.
– In addition, all government members have other communication tools that they use if they have to communicate something that is classified according to the Security Act, says Hjukse.
SECURITY: Minister for Justice and Emergency Emilie Enger Mehl refused for months to answer whether she had had TikTok on the government mobile phone, citing security oversight as the reason. On Wednesday, she finally chose to put her cards on the table in an interview with TV 2. Photo: Thomas Evensen / TV 2
Criticism in the Storting
Mehl’s confirmation that she downloaded TikTok to the service phone has subsequently been met with harsh criticism – including from Erna Solberg.
Speaking to TV 2 on Thursday, Solberg pointed out that Mehl refused to give the Storting the same information for months. Mehl’s justification for the secrecy has been security concerns, but other ministers have had no problem answering “yes” or “no” to the question, pointed out the Conservative leader, who also responded that Mehl answered TV 2 about the matter before she answered the Storting .
– Now that she has answered you, it appears that she has actually answered incorrectly to the Storting regarding security considerations. Then she should just clean up and answer again, said Solberg to TV 2.
According to her, the minister’s relationship with the Storting has become “strained” as a result of the case.
On Wednesday, Mehl will have to go back on the carpet to answer new questions about the case in the Storting’s ordinary question time.
