The German Bundestag has launched an investigation into a conversation between billionaire and X owner Elon Musk and the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), Alice Weidel, for possible illegal donations. This was reported by Welt.
A spokesperson for the Bundestag stated, “We are currently investigating the facts of the case.”
Musk is known to openly promote the AfD on his social network X (Twitter). On January 10, he broadcast his conversation with Weidel on the platform.
The non-governmental organization LobbyControl has previously pointed out that Musk’s support for the AfD could be an illegal party donation.
“A much tougher approach against the politically one-sided social media platform X should also be on the political agenda in Europe. It is about saving our democratic public from the influence of a US tech billionaire. The urgency of this is shown by Musk’s influence in favor of the AfD and other right-wing extremist parties in Europe. The planned conversation between Musk and Alice Weidel could potentially constitute an illegal donation to a political party. Musk clearly announced his goal of strengthening the AfD,” it stated.
According to the organization, posts by regular users on X are unlikely to receive as much coverage as Musk’s conversation with Weidel.
“In this context, we can certainly talk about political advertising here, as the X platform usually sells such coverage for a lot of money,” the organization said.
Early 2024 reforms to the party law classified election advertising from third parties as a party contribution.
Party donations from non-EU countries are also prohibited.
According to the Political Parties Act, the German Bundestag is responsible for scrutinizing the correctness of party funding and election advertising.
The day before, Musk held a conversation with the leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, on the X platform, during which they criticized the “leftism” in German education and bureaucracy, and also claimed that “Hitler was a communist” rather than a Nazi.
The American billionaire had previously publicly stated that “only the AfD can save Germany.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concerns about Musk’s support for Alternative for Germany a few weeks before the snap elections.
Recent reporting and analysis on Russian influence operations targeting the EU and Ukraine suggest a…
Ukraine’s Center for Countering Disinformation says Russia is using fabricated archival material and state media…
A Re:Baltica investigation says pro-Kremlin media and social media channels used unrelated security incidents in…
With nearly 900,000 monthly visitors, MV-lehti is the most-visited pro-Kremlin outlet in Finland — and…
The EU’s designation of Alexandra Jost marks a wider shift in how European authorities are…
A Spanish-language website with declared partnerships with RT and Sputnik has published more than 2,300…