German elections 2021: The conspiracy theories
targeting voters
Published
24
September 2021
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-58655702
Misinformation
has targeted the validity of the German federal elections
By BBC
Monitoring
Essential
Media Insight
Ahead of
federal elections this weekend, conspiracy theories have been spreading online,
including claims the poll will be invalid because the German state is
illegitimate.
Followers
claim neither Germany nor Austria were officially recognised as independent
states by Allied force commanders after World War Two, operationally known as
the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF).
These
baseless claims have echoes in the Reichsbürger Movement, which rejects modern
Germany's legitimacy.
With links
to far-right and anti-Semitic groups, it claims a German Reich still exists,
with pre-War 1939 borders.
But modern
Germany was constituted in 1949, as the Western allies merged their post-War
occupation zones into the Bundesrepublik (West Germany) while the Soviet zone
became the DDR (East Germany).
And these
merged into the current Federal Republic in 1990, after the fall of the Berlin
Wall.
Retake power
SHAEF
conspiracy theory believers say the current German elections are invalid
because they are organised by an non-existent state - and anybody taking part
is committing treason.
Like the
QAnon conspiracy in the United States, the SHAEF theory has a
"saviour", who will rescue Germany from disaster.
While in
the US, it is Donald Trump who adherents believe will eventually intervene and
retake power, in Germany it is a "Cdr Jansen", who posts on the
social media platform Telegram.
Theorists
say Jansen, with the aid of a reinstated President Trump, will install a
"legitimate" government, an absurd idea that has found a home in
Germany's far-right online presence.
The
Querdenken protest movement features people from many walks of life
The
Covid-sceptic Querdenken mass movement (roughly translated as "lateral
thinkers") has also become a home for the spread of misinformation around
the German elections.
Querdenken
claims to have no political affiliation, but several of its key figures have
well-documented far-right connections and some of their demonstrations have
ended in violence.
It draws in
a range of supporters - not only far-rightists and the Reichsbürger movement
but also hippies, spiritualists and evangelical Christians.
A
heterogenous movement from a broad background, some sections say Covid is a
plot by shadowy elites to eradicate freedoms.
And with links
to far-right parties and organising online, there are concerns this could boost
the extremist vote in the election.
'Physical
violence'
Facebook
recently shut down a network of about 150 Querdenken-linked accounts, saying
they encouraged real-world harm.
A
Querdenken statement claims this was "an attack on freedom of expression
ahead of the federal election" but Facebook says the group had
"engaged in physical violence against journalists, police and medical
practitioners in Germany".
Other
groups such as Freiheitsboten and Die Basis also operate at local and national
levels, with a membership, fact-checking organisation Logically estimates, of
about 1.25% of the population.
But as
Logically intelligence analyst Jordan Wildon told BBC News, mass movements tend
to have little effect on voting intention.
"One
of the cornerstones of German politics is stability and structure, and a surge
of misinformation is less likely to cause dramatic immediate changes as
elsewhere in the world," he said.
Querdenken:
The anti-vax movement targeting children
How The Great Reset got targeted by conspiracy
theories
In May,
state-run Russian TV channel RT DE - the German version of the channel
previously known as Russia Today - was accused of smearing Green Party
candidate for chancellor Annalena Baerbock.
The
broadcaster had aired an opinion piece criticising Ms Baerbock, following a
speech in which she had praised "our grandparents" for bringing peace
to Europe.
The RT DE
article, noting her grandfather had fought with the Nazi-era Wehrmacht, asked:
"Whose shoulders does the Green chancellor candidate see herself on?"
RT has
often used pieces written by third parties to publish controversial views while
distancing itself from the voice of these opinions.
But in
June, a German Interior Ministry report pointed the finger at Russia and said
these interventions could "disturb social cohesion, trust in state
institutions, the political decision-making process, and electoral
processes".
There are
also claims being shared both in mainstream social media and alternative news
platforms, casting doubt on the integrity of the postal vote, suggesting some
people will be able to vote twice.
The
far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and anti-lockdown party Die Basis
both claim the postal-vote system is not secure, the latter urging supporters
to vote in person.
And with
postal voting on the increase because of the Covid-19 pandemic, AfD in
particular has been spreading, since the start of 2021, the baseless claim the
mainstream parties will be using mail-in votes to rig the ballot, German
broadcaster Deutsche Welle reports.
But even
voting in person is not without controversy, with anti-vaccine activists
inaccurately claiming only people vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to
enter polling stations.
Although in
fact, the Federal Returning Officer has confirmed unvaccinated and untested
people can vote but voters must wear a face mask.
German experts look back on Merkel's legacy
A favourite
theme of conspiracy theorists, notably in the United States, has been the idea
of the Great Reset - that a political elite or dark international forces have
orchestrated the Covid pandemic in order to take control.
And in
Germany, this has surfaced as an idea these elites are planning to rig the
election result.
Right-wing
commentators claim the election is a "swansong for a rotten Germany",
which will see an end to freedoms and democracy.
And RT
called the campaign "a uniform porridge of promises", suggesting all
the major parties are the same.
But they
are railing against Germany's conservative nature, according to Mr Wildon,
which means disinformation and conspiracy theories have little effect.
"While
there have been attempts to influence political opinion, disinformation broadly
seeks to discourage people away from particular parties, rather than
specifically towards another," he said.
"The
nature of Germany's democratic process leaves people with a variety of other
choices, making it more difficult to consolidate disillusioned voters in favour
of one specific party."
Reporting
by Alistair Coleman and Jordy Geerlings.
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