AfD fan Elon Musk causes unrest in the German election campaign
Published: Friday, Dec 20th 2024, 17:20
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US billionaire and Tesla founder Elon Musk has publicly revealed himself to be an AfD fan, causing a stir in the middle of the German parliamentary election campaign.
The right-wing populist AfD celebrates Musk, former Finance Minister Christian Lindner offers him a discussion about the FDP, while other parties criticize him harshly and accuse him of interfering in the German election campaign. The German government is initially keeping a low profile.
"Only the AfD can save Germany", Musk wrote on his platform X about the post by an influencer with close ties to the AfD. AfD leader Alice Weidel immediately thanked him with a "Yes! You're absolutely right, Elon Musk!" and later sent a video in English addressed to "Dear Elon".
Scholz: Freedom of expression also applies to multi-billionaires
The German government reacted cautiously. Freedom of speech also applies to multi-billionaires, said Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) at a press conference in Berlin. "But freedom of opinion also means that you can say things that are not right and do not contain good political advice." Previously, a government spokeswoman had not answered several questions about possible consequences and whether this was election interference or outside influence.
She merely made a general reference to the EU Digital Services Act (DSA) and the EU Commission responsible for this. It was assumed that the DSA would also be respected by the platforms. According to this EU law, Tiktok, Facebook, X, Google and many others must take faster and stricter action against illegal content on the internet than before, otherwise they could face severe penalties. According to the German government, in addition to hate speech, this includes counterfeit products that are offered for sale or the ban on so-called dark patterns, where users can be tricked into making decisions that they would not have made freely.
Chancellor continues with X
On the question of whether the Chancellor's channel would continue to operate on X, the spokesperson said that the government was concerned about the development of X since the takeover by Elon Musk. "Nevertheless, when weighing up the options, we always come to the conclusion that we will stay on X." It is an important medium for reaching and informing people.
Musk is now a close advisor to US President-elect Donald Trump, whose election campaign he supported with millions in donations. His posts on X reach more than 200 million followers around the world and are forwarded tens of thousands of times in a very short space of time. X is primarily used by journalists, politicians and political influencers and therefore has a major influence on the opinion-forming process in society.
Criticism of interference in the election campaign
Sharp criticism came from various parties. If Musk is actively intervening in the election campaign with his Platform X to give the AfD a tailwind, this is "an alarming signal", SPD General Secretary Matthias Miersch told the news portal "t-online". Germany does not need foreign influences or Trumpism. "Stay out, Elon", he demanded.
Lindner invites Musk to chat about the FDP
FDP leader Christian Lindner wrote to Musk that the AfD is against freedom and the economy and is an extreme right-wing party. He should not jump to conclusions from afar, but meet with him and talk about the FDP. His party colleague Wolfgang Kubicki advised calmness overall with regard to Musk's post: "I don't believe that Tesla drivers in Germany will allow this opinion to influence their voting decision," he told Welt. He spoke of a private expression of opinion and added that it was no different in principle from the election recommendation of German climate activist Luisa Neubauer to Democrat Kamala Harris in the USA.
Musk also gets involved in British politics
Back in the summer, tech billionaire Musk praised the AfD after the European elections. The party is described as right-wing extremist, "but the political positions of the AfD that I have read about do not sound extremist", he wrote on X at the beginning of June. He has also been involved in British politics for months. For example, he has pledged his support to the right-wing populist Reform UK party and is talking to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage about a donation.
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