The AfD reaches significantly more young people on TikTok than any other party. Scientists criticize that they have rejected the network for too long. Now it’s about countering this with clever concepts.
“I have a voice for singing and for the voting booth,” says an older man with a mischievous smile into the cell phone camera. In another TikTok video, a man with his guitar sings: “Germany, watch out for your Nazis!” A young woman with a cap speaks from her room: “We must not give this platform to the right-wing.”
The number of clicks on these TikTok videos is not high. But they are examples of the #ReclaimTikTok campaign, which wants to bring democratic discourse back to the platform.
It will be a tough job, says political consultant Martin Fuchs. AfD politicians have been active on the platform for years with many accounts: their viral videos are often populist, reductive or pointed. Martin Fuchs appeals to the political center to use the platform wisely and to work with a plan. “If there are only a few Democrats on the platform, the algorithm also plays out widespread disinformation and populism,” says Martin Fuchs. “This could lead to a loss of trust in democratic institutions.”
Luisa Neubauer, the German face of the Fridays For Future movement, is trying to slow the AfD’s influence on young people. Together with other political activists and organizations, she therefore uses the hashtag #ReclaimTikTok.
AfD significantly more effective and successful
Political scientist Julian Hohner did his doctorate on radicalization on the Internet. “The latest studies show that the AfD or right-wing parties from Europe use the platform much more effectively and successfully than centrist politicians,” he says.
For a long time, parties in the political center relied on the use of proven digital channels because they had the right reach. “The success of the AfD on the platform is waking up politicians.”
The AfD has a clear lead on Tiktok, says Marcus Bösch. The political scientist researches disinformation campaigns and TikTok at the HAW Hamburg. The network of fan and amplifier accounts is very large and very successful.
“Content from Maximilian Krah, for example, is posted here, re-edited and enriched with music,” says Bösch. “In this way, the AfD also manages to circumvent the restriction or deletion of accounts through the platform to a certain extent.”
The platform had restricted the politician’s reach for 90 days. Parties on the political fringes have always been considered “early adopters,” says Julian Hohner. This has also been the case with YouTube and Telegram in the past.
A digital place was ignored
The AfD parliamentary group has more than 411,000 followers on TikTok and more than seven million likes. The SPD has almost 128,000 followers and 2.4 million likes. The CDU/CSU parliamentary group has more than 20,000 followers and almost 250,000 likes.
For a long time, well-known politicians treated TikTok as unimportant. “A relevant digital location was deliberately ignored for four years,” criticizes political consultant Martin Fuchs. “This strategic wrong decision is having a massive impact. This is creating a lot of activism without a strategy or concept.”
More successful than the AfD
TikTok is used by over 22 million Germans, says Fuchs. “The platform creates low-threshold access to politics very easily and efficiently.”
Markus Söder, Karl Lauterbach and Katharina Schulze have official accounts and now regularly post videos – far more unsuccessfully than the AfD. “TikTok’s algorithm favors controversial content and emotionally charged content,” says Julian Hohner. “Users unintentionally view the content for a longer period of time before scrolling further.”
Viral videos possible without followers
The algorithm registers this and quickly shows similar content in future videos. Nevertheless, it is also an opportunity that can generate reach for democracy-promoting purposes. Unlike previous networks, content providers don’t have to first build a so-called “social circle” of followers, says Marcus Bösch.
“Thanks to algorithmic curation – purely technically – the first videos of a new account can go viral.” These should be short, concise, authentic and interesting, says the political scientist. An opportunity for centrist parties?
More than half of Germans between the ages of 14 and 19 use Tiktok. The platform is therefore the main source of information for many young people.