An investigative report published by the German website (Correctiv) concluded that the far-right party (Alternative for Germany) recently developed an artificial intelligence-based tool to produce ready-to-publish propaganda materials, content that mainly focuses on immigration and asylum issues and promotes the party’s rhetoric calling for reducing immigration and accelerating deportations.
Propaganda materials – according to the investigative site – include publications dedicated to social media, press releases, pictures and graphs that carry the party’s visual identity, that is, they use the approved templates in its publications, such as the logo, the colors blue, red and white, the type of font used, and the method of designing images and publications.
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The site explains how it obtained the exclusive information by saying that one of its journalists was able to assume a pseudonym and present himself as a member of the party, and obtained from the person who developed the tool, an employee in the party’s federal office named Mario Howe, a presentation of the program’s capabilities.
According to the developer’s explanation, this program can transform any news into a political publication, press release, or propaganda image within minutes, in accordance with the party’s discourse and political program, but in a toned-down language that is in line with the general mood and with the political discourse prevailing in German party circles.
According to the investigation, the tool collects news automatically and around the clock, but from a selected group of right-wing and conservative news sites before ranking them according to their ability to achieve wide spread on social media platforms.
The authors of the investigation noted that news related to the debate on immigration and asylum and crimes attributed to foreigners top the list of topics suggested by the tool to produce propaganda content that is consistent with the policy of the party classified as far-right.
Immigrants are at the heart of propaganda
The immigration file represents the main focus of the tool’s work, which not only reformulates news published mostly on right-wing websites, but also transforms it into political messages that automatically adopt the positions of the Alternative Party and promote demands for accelerating deportations and linking refugees and immigrants to crimes.
According to the undercover journalist, the developer Mario Howe, while explaining the tool’s operation, entered news about an incident that occurred in a public swimming pool and added the phrase “deport now” to it in a box designated for specifying the political position.
The tool then immediately produced a leaflet calling for the “immediate and comprehensive deportation of immigrants” as the best solution to restore security to swimming pools and public places, in a tone that is acceptable within the current debate on the issue and far from extremist rhetoric.
In another experiment – the investigation says – Correctiv journalists wanted to test the limits of the tool by introducing a more extreme directive regarding immigrants who had obtained German citizenship and asked the program to prepare a leaflet calling for the forced deportation of all those who had obtained citizenship during the past five years.
Although this request unambiguously contradicts the German Constitution, the tool did not reject it, but rather reformulated it in less harsh language and produced a publication calling for the cessation of granting citizenship and the withdrawal of what it described as “illegal naturalization” under the pretext of preventing the formation of electoral blocs on an ethnic basis and protecting the public interest.
Hence, the website confirms that the program did not reject the unconstitutional request, but rather merely kept its essence while softening the wording and tone, which the investigation’s authors considered only a form of beautification of extremist discourse.
Experiments also showed that the tool automatically gives priority to stories related to immigrants and deals with them as the topics most capable of sparking interaction and spread, which makes it an effective tool for reproducing anti-immigration discourse.
The role of the program used by the machine is not limited to writing texts, but also automatically produces several publication titles and texts customized for social media platforms that are consistent with the party’s policy.
An integrated advertising machine
The role of the program used by the machine is not limited to writing texts, but rather automatically produces several titles for publications and texts designated for social media platforms that are consistent with the party’s policy. The investigation confirms that it is sufficient for the user to specify the political message he wants to convey, for the program to fully formulate the content, starting from the title to the summary of the news that is most influential and exciting for the audience’s interaction.
Reliance on American companies
In its work, the tool relies on artificial intelligence models developed by major American companies such as (Google) and (OpenAI), noting that the policy of these companies prohibits the use of their services in misleading electoral and political campaigns or in producing content that incites hatred or affects the course of elections.
The investigation says that the tool’s developers were able to circumvent protection systems by reformulating requests before sending them to artificial intelligence models in a way that allowed the production of content that was likely to be rejected.
The investigation quotes the head of the Center for Digital Rights and Democracy, Markus Bekdahl, as saying that the tool may in some cases place initial restrictions on some requests, but bypassing them requires only minor modifications in the wording of the instructions, allowing the generation of content that carries anti-constitutional content.
European Union laws
Correctiv quotes legal experts as saying that the tool may raise legal problems that clash with European Union laws related to artificial intelligence, whether due to the content generated by artificial intelligence or the nature of its use in political and electoral propaganda.
Experts also warned that such tools may, over time, turn into platforms for producing massive amounts of political content, with a particular focus on posts linking immigrants to crime and calling for their deportation, which may contribute to inflaming public opinion by generating xenophobic rhetoric and reinforcing stereotypes about immigrants.
The importance of social networking sites
The investigation finds that the Alternative Party was at the forefront of German parties that realized the increasing importance of social media in shaping public opinion and influencing political debate, which in recent years motivated it to invest significant financial and human resources in strengthening its digital presence.
Compared to other German parties that still resort to traditional methods in order to attract voters and hesitate to give digital platforms sufficient attention, the party was able to build a broad public base that relies on social networking sites to obtain information.
The report adds that the party is not content with using social media to spread its messages, but is working to develop tools and techniques that allow the production of content quickly and on a large scale, thus enhancing its ability to influence the public mood and direct the debate on sensitive issues, most notably immigration and asylum.
How did the party respond?
Regarding the response of the law firm (Hooker), which represents the Alternative Party before the courts, the investigation said that the office sent a written response to the website’s inquiries, which included questions about the possibility of party leader Alice Weidel using the new tool and whether some of her posts on social media were produced by artificial intelligence.
According to the response, the office denied that Fidel uses the tool to produce its publications, stressing that it only benefits from a part dedicated to managing and publishing content and not from the component responsible for generating texts or images using artificial intelligence.
The office added that the use of artificial intelligence techniques in preparing content is not limited to the Alternative Party, noting that other parties, including the Green Party, also resort to these techniques in producing some of their media materials, noting that the comparison here is not valid – according to the investigation – because the issue is not related to the use of artificial intelligence in itself, but rather to the possibility of employing a specific tool to produce content that includes inflammatory messages or contents that violate the German Constitution.
