Study: AfD's strength in social media is overestimated

In general, the three election campaigns were characterized by a high level of mobilization both online and offline. "In fact, the spheres could hardly be separated, as many local appearances were accompanied digitally, while trends from the internet were also reflected on posters and election speeches," says a brief summary of the study.

Provocation engine Junge Alternative

The AfD youth organization Junge Alternative acted as a provocation engine. "The provocation with extreme, racist and anti-immigration statements - also conveyed via generative artificial intelligence - contributed to the party's greater visibility, which benefited the AfD in Brandenburg and Thuringia in particular," write the authors of the study.

In addition, social media was always considered in the marketing of political content "in order to achieve the greatest possible cross-media reach and provoke counter-reactions". This has contributed to the fact that the AfD's digital performance has often been overestimated by the public. "It is true that the AfD state associations, in cooperation with right-wing media and agencies, certainly exercised dominance in digital spaces," the authors write.