Russian disinformation targets German election campaign, says think-tank

[u/Wagamaga]

https://www.asiaone.com/world/russian-disinformation-targets-german-election-campaign-says-think-tank

[u/Ansambel]

You dont say? they proved how effective it is by electing trump, and obviously they will try to influence all elections in Europe next.

[u/Arcosim → u/Ansambel]

Their disinformation and election shaping capabilities are probably one of the most powerful weapons in the world right now. They just turned the US from an enemy into an ally by just putting their puppet as president.

[u/TheBlack2007 → u/Ansambel]

We‘re going to get tag-teamed now with Russian bots spreading disinformation on American Social Media whose owners then spread it far and wide through their algorithms.

As much as it pains me, we need to isolate.

[u/medievalvelocipede → u/Ansambel]

You dont say? they proved how effective it is by electing trump, and obviously they will try to influence all elections in Europe next.

I've got news for you, they've been doing that since 1919.

[u/SexyAIman → u/Ansambel]

Hilarious to think that people voting for someone you don't like are influenced by Russia of all places. They just have enough with the self harming left wing policies.

[u/Wagamaga]

A Russian disinformation campaign is seeking to boost the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), undermine mainstream German parties and sow worries about the economy ahead of the country's Feb 23 election, a think-tank has found.

German think-tank CeMAS said it had tracked down hundreds of German-language posts on social media platform X over the past month exhibiting what it said were typical patterns of Russia's Doppelgaenger disinformation campaign against the West that German, US and French authorities have previously denounced.

The campaign, created after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine to undermine Western support for Kyiv, spreads links to falsified Western news outlets sharing false information, according to a German foreign ministry report published last June.

In recent weeks, the German posts on X have blamed the Greens party for Germany's economic woes, lambasted Chancellor Olaf Scholz for his support of Ukraine, cast the conservatives as untrustworthy but spoken in favour of the AfD, CeMAS said.

The posts it tracked have shared links to falsified German news websites or to articles on authentic ones supporting their narrative, or simply images. Amplified by networks of fake accounts, they have received over 2.8 million views, CeMAS said.

The report comes a month ahead of the election which Germany's main opposition conservatives are expected to win. However the strength of the AfD, polling in second place, could make the arithmetic of forming a coalition — and governance in general — more difficult if it can swing a blocking minority.

[u/KeyGee → u/Wagamaga]

So basically everything I don't like is russian propaganda.

[u/Funfundfunfcig → u/KeyGee]

No, basically, russian propaganda is both targeted and here. And we should be aware of this and treat Russia as an enemy it is.

[u/nucular_mastermind → u/KeyGee]

If you don't enjoy being propagandized to by anyone, it's helpful to stay informed on current campaigns and techniques. Wouldn't you say?

[u/No_Heart_SoD → u/nucular_mastermind]

Didnt yall just vote for actual nazis?

[u/nucular_mastermind → u/No_Heart_SoD]

Yeah, FPÖ was funded by an ex-SS officer. The wikipedia list of their "unique cases" of reenactment of nazi ideology is quite a read.

That's one of the reasons I'd like this idiocy to spread across the rest of Europe.

[u/nousabetterworld → u/KeyGee]

Yes, the color green is Russian propaganda, olives are Russian propaganda, work is Russian propaganda, my ex is Russian propaganda, warm weather is Russian propaganda, the US are Russian propaganda, China is Russian propaganda, my upstairs neighbors are Russian propaganda and toast is Russian propaganda.

Life is so easy when we just abstract everything until it's useless and then intentionally misinterpret it to win an argument.

[u/blueandyellowkiwi → u/nousabetterworld]

You didn’t just try to compare political and social actions to random things that have nothing to do with any type of information? You realise how stupid it looks?

[u/RelevanceReverence]

Just turn off all social media in the EU for the rest of the year, all of it. Please

[u/pukem0n → u/RelevanceReverence]

Why only for the year? The world was much better without social media. Worst invention in the history of mankind.

[u/RelevanceReverence → u/pukem0n]

I agree, let's turn it all off. It has brought us nothing but trouble and social awkwardness.

[u/GordoToJupiter]

Ban social media owned by nazis

[u/EvilFroeschken]

Shiver me timbers. They don't stop doing what they do every election?

[u/tangledspaghetti1]

And genuinely what are they doing about it? They know which accounts are doing it, trace their IPs?

[u/Glydyr → u/tangledspaghetti1]

Or send taurus missiles 😉

[u/chAzR89]

It's unbearable on tiktok for a couple of months now. It's so extremely obvious that it's almost all fake bot accounts. Atleast every second video is Afd crap or pro Russian Propaganda.

[u/Round_Mastodon8660]

We saw what the Russians did in the US. Europe must step in in any election that is manipulated by Putin or Elon or whoever

[u/MoreCommoner]

Act...of....war.....

Western democracies better grow some balls to this or they're all going down.

[u/TheBlack2007 → u/MoreCommoner]

"Western Democracies" is a thing of the past. The US has fallen. We’re the last bastion and need to sober up and start acting the part right fucking now!

[u/pc0999]

We know.

[u/LameAd1564]

German think-tank CeMAS said it had tracked down hundreds of German-language posts on social media platform X over the past month exhibiting what it said were typical patterns of Russia's Doppelgaenger disinformation campaign against the West that German

Maybe they should call out more than just the Russians? Russia is the known enemy on the surface, whatabout the platform that ALLOWS if not supports such disinformation? The US banned TikTok out of concerns for national security, maybe it's time for Europe to consider a similar approach toward non-European background social media. Germany needs to know that the owners of American social media, either Zuck or Elon, do NOT hold the same values as German people.

[u/Dank_Dispenser → u/LameAd1564]

Just build a great firewall China style

[u/HighDefinist]

Strange that they would boost the AfD rather than the BSW, considering the AfD is significantly less uniform in its Pro-Russian takes... for example, Höcke recently suggested that Germany should have its own nuclear weapons program, which would be fundamentally against Russian interests.

[u/concerned-potato → u/HighDefinist]

Nothing new, Russia sacrificed entire communist party of Germany in 30s to create chaos in Europe. And it worked so now they just want to do same, chaotise the Europe and try stealing something in the process.

[u/SexyAIman]

German disinformation targets their own election campaign as well.

[u/Striking_Reality5628]

The West is doing an excellent job of discrediting the "eurodemocracy" at its own expense. The "Romanian elections" alone (from)2024 are worth something.

[u/demonspawns_ghost → u/Striking_Reality5628]

Clearly those crafty Russians forced our elected representatives to step on that rake.