Germany Accuses Elon Musk of Attempted Election Interference
Elon Musk. X/ @MotherJones
December 31, 2024 Hour: 11:41 am
The owner of X has expressed favorable opinions about the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
On Monday, German government deputy spokesperson Christiane Hoffmann accused U.S. magnate Elon Musk of attempting to interfere in the German electoral process.
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“Indeed, Elon Musk is trying, through his statements, to influence the elections to the Lower House,” she said, referring to Musk’s recent posts on his social network X supporting the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) and an opinion piece published in the Sunday edition of the Die Welt newspaper.
However, Hoffmann added that Musk is free to express his opinion and that freedom of speech also applies to the social network X. She also reminded that elections in Germany are decided by voters at the polls and that “they are a German matter.”
Hoffmann stated she did not wish to evaluate which weighs more in this case—freedom of speech or an external attempt to interfere in German elections. “Freedom of speech is a valuable asset. And here we are witnessing an attempt to exert influence. Whether it succeeds or not is another matter. But we see an attempt to exert influence,” she noted.
Nevertheless, Hoffmann also pointed out that Musk’s opinions are essentially recommendations to vote for a party that is under surveillance by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution —the Interior Ministry’s intelligence service— on suspicion of being a far-right organization.
Regarding Musk’s article published in Die Welt in support of the AfD, Hoffmann simply noted that German Chancellor Olaf Scholz “does not comment, in any case, on editorial decisions.”
She also stated that the government finds it appropriate to maintain a presence on X to disseminate executive information as widely as possible, despite observing “with great concern” the developments on this social network. She referred to this as a “balancing act” that is constantly reassessed.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
