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The Rise of the AfD and the Digital Challenge: How Progressive Parties in Germany Can Catch Up

The political landscape in Germany has been undergoing a transformation over the past decade, especially in its eastern states. The 2024 state elections in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg have highlighted a growing challenge for progressive parties, as the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) has captured unprecedented levels of support.

Central to the AfD’s rise has been its early adoption of digital organizing—a realm in which progressive parties in the country have not always kept pace. Five German digital strategists take a look at the tactics that have contributed to the AfD’s rise and share digital strategies that German progressives can leverage to counter the AfD’s influence.


DW news article headline
 

The 2024 state elections in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg sent shockwaves through Germany’s political landscape. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) saw its influence grow substantially, capturing around 30% of the vote in all three elections. The far-right’s performance in these state elections has led to concerns that this momentum may carry into the federal elections planned for next year.


Free school meals & stopping mass immigration


tiktok logo, pink
Credit: X, via Unsplash

Sentiments of dissatisfaction with the status quo in Saxony, Thuringia and Brandenburg have been shaped by the country’s recent history – which has led to a wide-spread sense of economic disillusionment in the East and marginalization compared to the more wealthy Western part of the country. The AfD, over the past decade, has made apt use of the possibilities inherent in the digital sphere to tap into these sentiments. To a certain extent, the party’s success on platforms like Facebook, Youtube or Tiktok can be attributed to the radical nature of their content. “The AfD knows how to work the algorithms,” says Till Ehrmann, a German expert in digital campaigning. Emotionally charged content and radical views do well on social media: they spread several times faster than more nuanced types of messaging. This especially affects younger voters, says Ehrmann. “A young person might see an average of nine AfD posts a week on Tiktok,” he says. “In addition, the AfD’s messages are clear and simple,” Ehrmann adds. “We’re going to bring free school meals. We’re going to stop mass migration. Fifteen seconds—that’s all.”


But the radical and emotionally charged messaging the party is known for is not the only advantage they have online, emphasizes digital strategist Moritz Drechsler –– who is from the Eastern part of Germany himself. “The AfD has also started using Facebook very early on and in a highly decentralized way, focusing on small local groups,” he explains.


“Instead of relying on a centralized digital campaign, the AfD strategically allows individuals and smaller groups to create and manage localized content – leading to a more grassroots kind of presence on social media. This way, the AfD has maintained a consistent flow of content that speaks directly to local issues. Scaling up this approach, the party has effectively gained traction with a wide audience across different regions.”


Is social media evil?


Progressives in Germany have long been concerned about the negative effects of social media – as well as the danger of infringing on people’s privacy by storing their personal information in databases. “So while all of the AfD’s grassroots organizing in local Facebook groups was already underway, many politicians on the left were still saying that social media is evil and that we should stay away from it,” Drechsler explains. He believes that by now, people in progressive circles have begun to feel more reassured about privacy – with laws like the GDPR in place, and the confidence that it is in fact possible to store data in transparent ways. “I think we finally understand that the digital landscape is not just a tool: it’s a battleground for ideas and communities. We cannot afford not to be there. But we have come to the game late –– we have to play catch-up.”


Reddit thread on why Germans are anti- social media
screenshot from Reddit - 8 Oct 2024
“I think we finally understand that the digital landscape is not just a tool: it’s a battleground for ideas and communities. We cannot afford not to be there. But we have come to the game late –– we have to play catch-up.” - Moritz Drechsler

An important way in which progressive parties can catch up digitally is by making their digital campaigns more targeted, says Nina Treu, who supported left-wing party Die Linke in their recent state election campaign in Saxony. “Often, a secretary tasked with various responsibilities will spend some time simply piecing together one email that links to a bit of information online,” she says. “Without any special consideration for effective strategies such as tagging or tracking engagement––this is a far cry from a comprehensive digital approach. Because this way, you don’t know what people are really interested in.”


Diluted messaging


Treu thinks that amongst progressives in Germany, there exists another perception that hinders developments in the realm of digital organizing: the belief that it’s already everywhere. “Emails, petitions, online ads––people see these things and think: parties are already doing all of these things. But in my experience many campaigners don’t distinguish between the truly professional efforts and those that lack a solid strategy.


For instance, launching a new digital campaign each week might sound good –– but if you are always tackling different topics, without a coherent focus or a specific channel for outreach, then this scattered approach not only prevents you from building on previous initiatives, it dilutes your messaging. Overall, I think there’s significant untapped potential for the left if we can cultivate a more strategic approach to our campaigns, focusing on coherence and continuity rather than scattering efforts across uncoordinated initiatives."


"Launching a new digital campaign each week might sound good –– but if you are always tackling different topics, without a coherent focus or a specific channel for outreach, then this scattered approach not only prevents you from building on previous initiatives, it dilutes your messaging." - Nina Treu

During the 2024 state election campaign in Saxony, both Ehrmann and Treu worked on a campaign for the re-election of Die Linke politician Marco Böhme in the German city of Leipzig, during which they gained some compelling insights. “An important thing we learned was that email is still very important,” Treu says. “Initially, Marco was like: do we need to focus on this? Do people even still use email?” But both politician and campaigners realized quickly that if they relied solely on social media, they would forever be at the mercy of the algorithms that rule those spaces. “And it also meant that the campaign would have to start from scratch each time we launched a new initiative,” Treu adds. “Building email lists with a targeted approach, whereby different emails are sent to different people, has also really helped our organizing,” she explains. “Volunteers who couldn't commit much time could tag themselves with specific interests, like helping with materials or posters. This allowed us to reach out and say 'Hey, this project is coming up—can you join us?”


Not as glamorous


Another important strategy that Ehrmann and Treu focused on during this campaign, was one similar to the AfD tactic described by Drechsler above: focusing on local issues. “We didn’t just tell people to vote for Marco,” Ehrmann says. “We asked them, amongst other things: do you want a more environmentally friendly airport?” Linking the election to topics that people care about locally – in this case, the environmental impact of the local airport – gave voters a kind of organic entry point into the campaign. “Of course, you cannot jump straight from a petition on the airport to ‘vote for me’,” Ehrmann cautions. “You have to go slow and speak to different voter lists differently, based on why people signed up to them. But slowly, you can grow your lists and get people more involved.” Because ultimately, people want to be involved, Drechsler thinks. “In today’s world there are fewer and fewer places where people can meet and talk about common experiences,” he says. This makes the digital space vital, especially in more rural places.


“In today’s world there are fewer and fewer places where people can meet and talk about common experiences,This makes the digital space vital, especially in more rural places." - Drechsler

“My own grandparents, for instance, live in the mountain range called the Erzgebirge in the East of Germany. If you want to go door-knocking around there you might have to walk 30 kilometers just to knock on ten doors. So you need to enter the digital space; the AfD has already done that, some ten years ago. We now need to create our own digital spaces –– in order to reach people and build new narratives with them. That will require asking people for their opinion, finding out which topics actually matter to them.”


image of facebook groups in Leipzig
Existing facebook groups are great places to join discussions and find entry points and issues that are relevant for locals

Drechsler also thinks that in order to create these spaces, progressives should be more open to including what already exists –– locally. “This means coming out of your bubble and understanding the unique challenges faced by communities that may seem very different from you,” he says. “We don’t need people in Berlin explaining to rural communities how to live their lives. Local activists may not be as glamorous as those in big cities, but they are doing the essential hard work. We need to identify and support those grassroots organizations that are already working within communities –– even if their messaging isn’t always exactly worded in all the perfect ways we think it should be.”


‘Man, annoy the AfD’

In addition to creating new digital spaces, communities and narratives, the digital realm also offers ways of resisting the influence of the AfD directly. Samuel Brielmaier, from cross-party grassroots organization Brand New Bundestag, explains how this can be approached. “Following the state elections, we launched an SOS Democracy campaign urging political leaders to reject any coalitions with the AfD,” he says. The initiative utilized a petition platform that gained significant traction, garnering nearly 11,000 signatures. “We called on all democratic leaders to maintain a firm firewall against right-wing extremism.” The campaign was bolstered by the involvement of influential figures on social media, amplifying its reach and impact. A tweet from public intellectual Carlo Masala encouraged many others to sign the petition –– demonstrating how leveraging prominent voices can effectively galvanize public support. “This campaign also grew our email list,” Brielmaier adds. “We gained 4000 new supporters who can be engaged in future initiatives.”


Alongside this campaign, the organization also launched a board game, inspired by the game Ludo –– which in German is called Mensch, ärgere Dich nicht, meaning ‘man, don’t get annoyed’. Brand New Bundestag named their version Mensch, ärgere die AfD – which translates roughly to ‘Man, annoy the AfD’. The game was designed to be both fun and educational, allowing participants to experience the importance of collaboration in preventing the far-right from gaining power. It was well-received and contributed to the organization’s brand recognition.


Not a lost battle


"We may need to delegate more: focus less on exact wording and more on speed.” - Sibylle Steffan

What the example of Brand New Bundestag’s board game shows well, is that political messaging does not always have to be serious. “Humor can be one great tool progressive parties can leverage in the digital world,” says Sibylle Steffan, a German member of the European Greens Party committee and host of the European Greens Podcast. “Using emotion can be another great way to raise interest, while still always remaining factual,” she says. In her podcast, Steffan connects real-life personal stories with more abstract political issues. “References to everyday life are extremely important for portraying political problems and conveying messages about it,” she says. “We have a responsibility to keep the discourse factual – but our communication needs to adapt.


"Dynamics in press cycles, as well as social media, are reshaping decisions on what to communicate and when; we need to adapt to the demands of these new dynamics. That may mean that we need to delegate more: focus less on exact wording and more on speed.”


 

So here's five strategies progressive parties in Germany should use in the upcoming 2024-2025 election campaigns if they want a chance in countering the far-right in Germany, according to experts:



  1. Support and work alongside existing local grassroots organizations: local activist groups will understand the context better than a fly in ever will. Work with them.

  2. Targeted outreach: Use segmentation and tracking in digital communications to deliver personalized messages to specific audience groups.

  3. Consistent messaging: Maintain a coherent narrative across all initiatives, in order to build a strong campaign identity over time. Don’t just reach out during election time – always keep building.

  4. Focus on local issues: Connect campaigns to local issues that matter to voters, providing an organic entry point which gradually increases people’s involvement and engagement.

  5. Create and support digital spaces for community engagement: Build digital spaces that foster discussions on topics that matter to communities, especially in rural areas.

  6. Real people, emotion and humorous content: Incorporate humor, emotion and real-life stories in messaging, to increase relatability and engagement – while keeping communication factual. Leverage prominent voices to galvanize public support.

 

At the European Center for Digital Action (ECDA), we specialize in the use of new technologies for political and social organizations. We train, provide advice and mentorship, and offer the best tools to maximize political impact. Get in touch at info@centerfordigitalaction.eu.


Note: We have made a deliberate decision not to attach links to far-right materials and groups as not to contribute any traffic to their digital spaces.



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