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Ahead of Germany’s federal elections, fake news and AI-generated propaganda is multiplying online.
As German federal elections draw closer, TikTok videos allegedly showing hundreds of thousands of people marching for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) have gone viral. German media outlet Correctiv revealed the videos had been manipulated — as a Euroverify investigation can confirm. The videos — posted by a range of AfD supporters’ accounts — consist of footage of crowds accompanied by captions claiming that they represent hundreds of thousands of people gathering for the far-right party.A simple TikTok search with keywords like “pro-AfD” and “protest” returns a string of videos of the sort. Euroverify ran the videos through a series of AI image detectors. Although many of the videos are not AI-generated, the footage is not from pro-AfD demonstrations but has been taken from other events, including protests against the German party. In some TikTok videos, AI audio detectors reveal that the soundtracks have been manipulated. In multiple videos — like this one — an AI-generated audio track of a crowd chanting “east, east, east” has replaced the original audio. Although this is not a chant typically used by AfD supporters, the eastern German states of Thuringia and Saxony are party strongholds. Footage in one video appears to date back to a January 2024 protest in Hamburg, when tens of thousands of people marched against the far right and not in favour of the AfD. The protests were triggered by public outrage over the revelation of a secret meeting between far-right groups in north-eastern Germany. AfD party members were among those who participated in talks which centred on how millions of immigrants — including those with German citizenship — could be systematically relocated to another country should these groups come to power. Wider mass protests across GermanyIn recent weeks, there have been no outdoor AfD gatherings attended by hundreds of thousands of people — which once again underlines the fact that these TikTok videos are fake. Tens of thousands of people in Germany did take to the streets last weekend — but to protest the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Friedrich Merz and his parliamentary proposal on stricter migration rules. The proposal was supported by the AfD, which proved to be a red line for many Germans. As for AfD gatherings, in December, 3,500 supporters — not hundreds of thousands — gathered for a memorial rally following the Magdeburg Christmas market attack. The car-ramming attack, carried out by a Saudi-born doctor who had voiced support for far-right narratives online, killed six and injured more than 200 others. Last month, South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk made a surprise appearance at an AfD campaign event in the eastern German city of Halle, which 4,500 people attended. Fake news and AI-generated propaganda are a growing concern ahead of Germany’s elections. In recent weeks, authorities have also warned that a disinformation campaign originating from Moscow could be trying to influence their outcome.
