Mar 16 • 15:03 UTC 🇫🇮 Finland Yle Uutiset

Report: Nigerian network manufactured millions of likes for German far-right leader Alice Weidel

A report reveals that over a thousand TikTok accounts systematically spread supporting content for German far-right leader Alice Weidel, amassing millions of likes and followers, with a significant portion of the activity traced back to Nigeria.

A recent report has uncovered a coordinated effort by over a thousand TikTok accounts that have been actively promoting German far-right leader Alice Weidel of the AfD party. These accounts shared videos and slogans from Weidel's speeches, exhibiting striking similarities in profile pictures, descriptions, and posting frequencies, indicating a well-organized network behind the activity. According to the report, these accounts collectively garnered over three million followers and received more than thirty million likes.

The research was conducted by Reset Tech, an expert organization focused on identifying digital threats, which analyzed 5,479 posts related to Weidel's TikTok content. Their findings highlight that a significant portion of this supportive content originated from Nigeria, pinpointing 3,175 posts traced back to the country via metadata analysis. This revelation suggests a substantial involvement from Nigerian users in this digital outreach for a prominent figure of the German far-right, raising questions about foreign influence on domestic political narratives in Germany.

The implications of this report are multifaceted, revealing potential vulnerabilities in social media platforms that allow for the manipulation of public opinion across borders. Moreover, it raises important discussions about the effectiveness of countermeasures against disinformation and the need for greater transparency in the operations of social media algorithms that can propagate content without adequate scrutiny. As this issue unfolds, it might prompt stricter regulations and oversight of digital platforms to mitigate such coordinated infusions of foreign influence in domestic politics.

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