Germany is considering whether Musk’s support for the far-right AfD party in Germany is illegal election financing. Many are fascinated by the power of money, writes Europe correspondent Anna Karismo.
Anna KarismoEurope correspondent
BERLIN. The richest man in the world Elon Musk’s and the far-right leader of Germany By Alice Weidel the almost one and a half hour meeting on Thursday evening at the X message service was a flop.
The conversation had more than 210,000 followers at its best, and the further the conversation progressed, the smaller the number became. Musk has 218 million followers on X.
In the discussion, Germany’s political leadership of the last few years was barked at and there was a long talk about religion, the universe and space conquest, among other things. Weidel thought Musk’s speech was “beautiful”.
Musk criticized Germany’s immigration policy and Weidel claimed the former chancellor Angela Merkel destroyed Germany.
– You must either be very stupid or hate your country, Weidel criticized Merkel’s decision to give up nuclear power.
In the discussion, peculiar claims about Hitler were also heard. According to Musk and Weidel, Hitler was actually a communist, among other things, because he nationalized companies.
– Calling Hitler a rightist or a conservative was the biggest mistake in history, Weidel claimed.
The conversation was very warm and we often laughed.
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Elon Musk supported Donald Trump In the US presidential election with huge sums, and now in Germany let’s askwill he try the same in Europe.
Musk has already repeatedly called the AfD the only party that can “save” Germany. Germany, on the other hand, accuses him of inappropriate election influence, to say the least.
X’s algorithms support Weidel
The authorities of the country’s Bundestag announced on Thursday that they are investigating whether there was an illegal election donation in Thursday night’s debate. After all, the AfD party could hardly get more visible advertising than by being allowed to perform for free to the masses of Elon Musk’s followers.
Only five percent of Germans look for political news on X, but the messages spread from there to other social and also traditional media.
X’s algorithms have clearly supported Weidel’s writings in recent weeks.
They have received three times more audience than, for example, the Green Chancellor’s candidate by Robert Habeck. Habeck was the most visible German politician on X before Musk started supporting the AfD.
“Musk benefits when the rules are reduced”
Elon Musk’s meddling in the German elections is also tearing up the country’s media. At the turn of the year, Die Welt magazine published an opinion piece supporting Musk’s AfD, as a result of which the head responsible for opinion pieces Eva Marie Kogel resigned.
Many others in Die Welt’s editorial office objected publication of the article, because it can be interpreted as the magazine’s own line during the elections.
After Kogel, the magazine’s leading investigative editor resigned Hans-Martin Tillack as an epiphany. He is also a member of the self-regulatory body corresponding to the German Presserat, i.e. the Council of Public Speech in Finland.
We met Tillack on Thursday. He does not comment on his resignation or the internal affairs of Die Welt, but on the situation in general.
According to Tillack, it’s good to note that Elon Musk’s power and money can bring many social actors under his belt.
According to Tillack, Musk has the right to express his opinion and interview Weidel.
The problem arises from X’s algorithms and how they spread far-right propaganda and conspiracy theories. The more liberal voices are drowned out.
According to Tillack, if the authorities classify Thursday night’s discussion as election financing, Elon Musk would violate German law.
– In Germany, party donations are only allowed if they are made by Germans or EU citizens, says Tillack.