TikTok and X recommend pro-AfD content to non-partisan users ahead of the German elections

Global Witness conducted a test using new social media accounts in Germany to assess algorithmic bias. The study found that TikTok and X disproportionately recommended right-leaning and pro-AfD content to users who expressed equal interest in four major parties. In contrast, Instagram primarily showed content from accounts the users had explicitly followed. The report also highlights instances where X amplified hate speech and TikTok promoted a political advertisement despite a platform-wide ban on such content.

• On X and TikTok, users were shown more than twice as many right-leaning posts as left-leaning posts. On Instagram, right-leaning content was nearly 1.5 times more prevalent than left-leaning content.
• Recommended party political content from accounts not followed by the users was heavily biased toward the AfD on TikTok and X, with 78% of such content on TikTok and 64% on X supporting the party.
• The prevalence of AfD content on TikTok and X is not solely due to posting frequency; for example, on TikTok, the CDU and Greens posted more content than the AfD in 2025.
• Instagram's recommendation system differed significantly from X and TikTok, as 96% of the political content shown came from the accounts the test users had already followed.
• X's algorithm amplified content that appeared to breach its own policies, including a post suggesting migrants from certain countries be treated as suspects and content featuring Holocaust denial.
• TikTok promoted a paid partnership post supporting the AfD that had over 600,000 views, despite the platform's official ban on all political and issue-based advertisements.

APA

Global Witness (2024). TikTok and X recommend pro-AfD content to non-partisan users ahead of the German elections. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-and-x-recommend-pro-afd-content-to-non-partisan-users-ahead-of-the-german-elections/

Chicago

Global Witness. TikTok and X recommend pro-AfD content to non-partisan users ahead of the German elections. 2024. https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-and-x-recommend-pro-afd-content-to-non-partisan-users-ahead-of-the-german-elections/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Witness |title=TikTok and X recommend pro-AfD content to non-partisan users ahead of the German elections |date=17 December 2024 |url=https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-and-x-recommend-pro-afd-content-to-non-partisan-users-ahead-of-the-german-elections/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalwitness2024tiktok, author = {{Global Witness}}, title = {{TikTok and X recommend pro-AfD content to non-partisan users ahead of the German elections}}, institution = {Global Witness}, year = {2024}, month = dec, url = {https://globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/digital-threats/tiktok-and-x-recommend-pro-afd-content-to-non-partisan-users-ahead-of-the-german-elections/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }