(View: 2351) [Cultural Policy/Issue] Social Media and Artificial Intelligence under Fire during Germany’s General Election

[Date Registered] February 19, 2025 | [Views] 2,358

Collapse of Germany’s Traffic Light Coalition… General Election Scheduled for February

On November 6, 2024, Germany’s “traffic light coalition” (Ampelkoalition) collapsed, leading to a new general election scheduled for February 23, 2025. As a parliamentary democracy, Germany requires coalition governments when no single party secures a majority in the Bundestag. However, when Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP, Free Democratic Party) submitted an economic policy paper, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD, Social Democratic Party) dismissed him, effectively dissolving the coalition. The document addressed sensitive issues such as climate goals adjustment and welfare spending limits.

The Bundestag must now form a new government through elections. During the campaign, parties are sharply divided on issues such as immigration law reform. In this process, social media and artificial intelligence have become subjects of controversy, as AI-generated discriminatory content and deliberately distributed information may manipulate public opinion.

Social Media Under Fire… Misused as a Tool for Political Influence

The controversy began with a live discussion on X (formerly Twitter) between Alice Weidel, leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla. On January 9, 2025, the two held a conversation on X, during which Musk openly expressed support for the AfD and urged people to vote for the party. He also shared a livestream of the AfD party convention on his account, which was viewed by more than 7.2 million people worldwide.

According to Yonhap News, an AfD delegate commented that “Musk’s support could increase our vote share by 2–3%,” and indeed, the party’s approval rating later reached a record high of 22%. The AfD has been criticized as a far-right party due to its repeated controversial statements. Major German parties have formed a so-called “firewall,” refusing to enter into a coalition with the AfD.

Within a day of the live talk, over 60 German and Austrian universities and research institutions released a joint statement announcing that they would immediately stop using X to prevent the spread of right-wing populist content. The statement read: “The current direction of X is incompatible with our fundamental values of openness to the world, scientific integrity, transparency, and democratic discourse.” The German Education Union (GEW), the service workers’ union Verdi, and even the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) also declared their intention to withdraw from X. The German government has stated that it is considering doing the same.

Artificial Intelligence Misused to Produce Racist Content

Another issue involves the use of AI-generated content for political purposes. According to German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW), “right-wing extremists are using artificial intelligence to create images of Aryan Germans with blond hair and blue eyes.” Multiple X accounts (@LarissaWagt, @juttafreitag6, @RenaF214439, @sophiasworld_17) have used generative AI to produce images of non-existent people, spreading anti-immigrant hate content.

These accounts frequently share posts such as “Afghans must be deported — only the AfD can make that happen,” alongside images of white women repeatedly circulated across the platform.

Germany’s Response

Digital technologies can be exploited in major political contexts such as elections. According to a Microsoft-commissioned survey, 67.9% of German respondents expressed concern that cyberattacks and AI-driven disinformation campaigns could influence the Bundestag election. Social media and AI technologies can sway public opinion by repeatedly exposing users to simple and extreme messages — a fact that most Germans seem well aware of.