Russia flooding German social media with ‘fake news’ ahead of elections, says govt
sp/ew
09.02.2025, 16:30
Elon Musk has shown the explicit support for the German far-right AfD party. Photo: Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Russian bots are behind a groundswell of disinformation which has flooded social media feeds ahead of Germany’s general election this month, a German government report has said.
The document, seen by the Politico website, reportedly identifies more than 100 pseudo-news websites accumulating content to be promoted online, with some of it targeting Germany’s support for Ukraine.
Voters in the EU’s most populous country will head to the polls on February 23. While the mainstream conservative CDU party is likely to finish on top, the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), which is accused of being pro-Russian, could be set for an historic second-place finish.
A recent survey showed that nearly 90% of Germans fear that foreign entities are meddling in domestic politics, with 45% saying they had suspicions of Russian interference and 42% suspecting influence from the United States.
Officials at the foreign office in Berlin named Doppelgänger, a disinformation campaign allegedly backed by the Kremlin, as a key player in attempts to influence voters.
The operation, which had been identified previously by EU and American intelligence agencies, uses fake news website, sleeper accounts on social media, and AI content in a coordinated manner to spread Russia-friendly narratives, Politico reported.
Websites and accounts are inactive until they spring into action at politically sensitive moments, it added.
“These platforms are structured similarly, filled with generic, often AI-generated articles,” one anonymous official said.
“At a chosen moment, a fabricated story is inserted and then rapidly spread via social media and influencers. We must assume these sites were prepared to be activated in the run-up to the Bundestag [parliament] election."
Surveying Germans’ attitude towards potential foreign election interference, the digital industry association Bitkom found that one third of those getting their news from online sources had come across disinformation about the election online.
While there have been highly-publicized warnings about Russian interference for many years, the fear of U.S.-linked disinformation is most likely tied to a more recent phenomenon – billionaire tycoon Elon Musk’s explicit support for the far-right AfD.
Musk, owner of social media platform X and a top figure in Donald Trump’s new White House, has appeared in rallies and broadcasts alongside the AfD’s leader, Alice Weidel.
On Friday, a German court ruled that X must release information enabling civil rights groups to track the spread of election-swaying information.
Activists argued that X had a duty under European law to provide easily researchable, collated access to information such as post reach, shares and likes, Reuters reported.
Russia, meanwhile, has rejected accusations of electoral interference in Germany.
According to the Poland-based Belarusian website, Belsat, the Kremlin’s foreign ministry spokesperson claimed the U.S. was trying to influence the election, adding that the authorities in Berlin were also “manipulating public opinion”.
‘Chaotic and fragmented’ efforts to tackle fake news
A blogpost published last week by the Peace Research Institute in Frankfurt (PRIF) described Germany’s current attempts to tackle misinformation as “chaotic and, at best, fragmented.”
Doctoral researcher Mina Trpovic wrote that “the German government has so far lacked a dedicated organization to coordinate the various efforts of different agencies and proactively engage with the harmful content”.
While noting that the election is just around the corner, she added that the authorities could still act before voting takes places, suggesting potential measures such as setting up a team to address disinformation in real-time and launching a public information campaign to increase awareness of disinformation.
Politico reported that the German government is stepping up its efforts and is considering publicly naming the networks behind Russia’s disinformation campaign.
“We are working on a 'cultural shift' within the Foreign Ministry,” the anonymous official told the website. “Ambassadors are becoming more vocal in their host countries. This ensures that when disinformation spreads, they have the credibility and networks to set the record straight.”
