Bespoke translation by yours truly. Original article [A] by Danisch
For a long time I've been voicing my assumption that the AfD (like, at the time, the Pirates and, according to the opinion of readers, also the "Republicans" back then) are subverted and much of what you see is actually "false flag" actions.
Recently, something was floating around, that someone allegedly opened up a fake account in social media to explore the AfD "from inside", and made up a fictitious AfD supporter (or even pseudo-member) who behaved precisely like leftists imagine (or wished).
Now a whole lot of them seems to have been unmasked. Apollo News: For a documentary, ARD created fake AfD accounts on TikTok
And then probably other people from public broadcasting come along, those "fact checkers", and report on the behavior of AfD supporters because they don't know that those are fake accounts.
You can't give the AfD a better argument against a prohibition of the party, because they - and even rightfully and correctly - can say that everything that they could be accused of did not come from them, but from ARD fake accounts.
Well, the ARD is broadcasting and not press, and therefore is not subservient to the Press Council.
What does the ARD make of it?
The ends justify the means. If something comes out at the end, every means is justified.
You could certainly conclude from that that the ARD also works with bribery, fraud, and torture. Because interrogations under torture also deliver "research results".
Apparently, their corrupt coat is burning so hard that they're willing to use all available means, because the AfD is considered an enemy of (ever increasing) public broadcasting financing.
On the subtle difference between AfD and ARD
For a long time I've been voicing my assumption that the AfD (like, at the time, the Pirates and, according to the opinion of readers, also the "Republicans" back then) are subverted and much of what you see is actually "false flag" actions.
Recently, something was floating around, that someone allegedly opened up a fake account in social media to explore the AfD "from inside", and made up a fictitious AfD supporter (or even pseudo-member) who behaved precisely like leftists imagine (or wished).
Now a whole lot of them seems to have been unmasked. Apollo News: For a documentary, ARD created fake AfD accounts on TikTok
For a documentary, the ARD created several fake accounts that are supposed to impersonate AfD supporters. They wanted to research the TikTok success of the party, they said - but the procedure caused criticism.
[...]
Because of that, the ARD looked into the success of the party on the platform in the documentary "The TikTok army of the AfD". Next to interviews with Erik Ahrens and Patrick Kolek, who allegedly made significant contributions for the success of the AfD on the platform, the ARD also created several fake accounts to simulate belonging to the AfD TikTok bubble and getting into contact with other TikTok influencers of the AfD.
Thus, the accounts @brina_bawue, @die_einzigste_alternative, @stabilderdeutscher0, and @anti_woke_gang were created. The account @brina_bawue is being maintained by a real person who pretends to be Sabrina Schäfer, unhappy and single. During the research, the account makes positive comments on the AfD. With the account @die_einzigste_alternative, the creators of the show wanted to imitate a classic AfD fan account. @stabilderdeutscher0, on the other hand, is a nationalist account and @anti_woke_gang is especially against left and green. The latter three accounts especially made use of AI-generated pictures and partially also share content of other AfD accounts.
And then probably other people from public broadcasting come along, those "fact checkers", and report on the behavior of AfD supporters because they don't know that those are fake accounts.
You can't give the AfD a better argument against a prohibition of the party, because they - and even rightfully and correctly - can say that everything that they could be accused of did not come from them, but from ARD fake accounts.
The approach by the ARD in this research has caused criticism as well. Journalist Peter Welchering, who worked for public broadcasting, writes on the platform on the creation of the fake accounts: "This is unjustifiable under professional ethics. I am saying that as a long-time public broadcasting journalist and former member of the German Press Council."
Well, the ARD is broadcasting and not press, and therefore is not subservient to the Press Council.
What does the ARD make of it?
In the documentary itself, complaints against the approach are preempted. Their investigative approach, which appears like an election ad for the AfD at first glance, is justified in their view if it produces research results.
The ends justify the means. If something comes out at the end, every means is justified.
You could certainly conclude from that that the ARD also works with bribery, fraud, and torture. Because interrogations under torture also deliver "research results".
Apparently, their corrupt coat is burning so hard that they're willing to use all available means, because the AfD is considered an enemy of (ever increasing) public broadcasting financing.
