Summary
Support for Germany’s far-right AfD is surging among young men, driven by concerns over immigration, conservative values, and distrust of mainstream politics.
A Pew study found 26% of German men view AfD positively, compared to 11% of women.
Social media, particularly TikTok, has helped spread its message. Some young supporters reject accusations of extremism, while others openly embrace far-right views.
Analysts warn that if mainstream parties ease their opposition to the AfD, it could become Germany’s dominant right-wing party.
I think the point is not “this is all TikTok’s fault”, the point is things like TikTok makes it a lot easier to spread misinformation. People have shorter attention spans nowadays, and they prefer to spend their time consuming short form content such as the kind found on TikTok. The problem with this is that it takes a lot more effort to correct wrong information and educate people than it takes to spread misinformation. For example, it’s much easier to clip something a politician says out of context and to make a 5 or 10 second clip for people to watch, than to convince people to watch a 5 minute interview or read an article for context.
And even though I don’t use TikTok, I still kind of insert my self in here; I don’t have the mental fortitude or patience to read every single article I come across, so I often read diagonally, check the summary, or (more rarely) just stick with the title.