Germany’s political parties have started submitting their draft election manifestos ahead of an upcoming snap election in February 2025. This is earlier than originally planned (explained here), and election campaigns of major parties have also started on social media. A survey spread by supporters of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) received more than 370,000 views on TikTok. DW fact-checked the claims made in the post.
claim: referendum in tiktok video A current poll (16 December) reportedly shows that a majority of respondents in Germany will vote for the AfD in the upcoming federal elections, known locally as the Bundestag elections.
DW Fact Check: False.
The TikTok video was posted by a pro-AfD account with more than 20,000 followers. The video shows a photo of Alice Weidel, the AfD’s leading candidate for chancellor, and below it a survey purportedly dated December 16, 2024. The survey claimed that 28 percent of respondents would vote for the AfD, while 25 percent would vote for the Social Democrats. Party (SPD), 16 percent for the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and 14 percent for the leftist Sara Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW).
However, this survey has no connection to the upcoming federal elections and is not current. The data come from the Institute for New Social Answers (INSA), a German institute that conducts political and market research, and relate to Brandenburg state elections. September 2024It was first published 17 September 2024Before the Brandenburg state elections.
The screenshot shown in the TikTok video was taken from a Facebook post by a German private media outletrtlThe source and original date were removed from the TikTok video.
according to Latest INSA Survey Results For the German federal election on December 16, 2024, 31.5% of respondents will vote for the CDU, while 19.5% will vote for the AfD and 16.5% will vote for the SPD.
