Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron held a summit yesterday to advance defense agreements, following the fiasco caused by the cancellation of the joint FCAS fighter project due to disagreements between the German and French industries. The two most powerful countries in Europe are threatened by the rise of the far right, which, according to polls, would govern both countries if elections were held today. Alternative for Germany (AfD) hopes to prevail in two key regional elections in September, and Marine Le Pen’s National Rally aims to win the presidential elections in April and May 2027.
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There are many ways to confront the emergence of these extremist forces, but the speech delivered by Chancellor Merz last Wednesday caught attention. Addressing AfD voters, he stated: “Watch closely. Do not let social media activity, no matter where it takes place, be your only source of information.” It is not very common for a political leader to recommend to citizens what should be the best channel to get informed, but the degree of manipulation existing today in the internet ecosystem advises it.
Specifically, there are studies, such as the one recently conducted in Spain by Fad Juventud, that reveal that up to 20% of mentions appearing on the X platform are misinformation or hoaxes. Another report, published in the journal Nature after a survey of 5,000 participants in the United States, confirmed that the X algorithm influences users to adopt more conservative political positions.
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And if anyone has doubts, the owner of this network himself, Elon Musk, had no qualms on Thursday about showing
his sympathies towards the French Le Pen. “She is France’s last hope,” he tweeted on his network. He had previously shown preferences for the Hungarian Viktor Orbán, for AfD, or for the British ultras.
X users already know what they will find on this network. The algorithm is not impartial. From there, whoever wants to be deceived is very free to do so.
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