TikTok curtails German far right’s top EU election candidate

Video-sharing platform TikTok has limited the influence of German far-right politician Maximilian Krah over the spread of conspiracy theories.

Krah is a member of the European Parliament who is leading the list for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party for the upcoming EU election in June. But his videos will no longer be recommended to TikTok users, who must now access his profile to see new content. TikTok also deleted five videos shared by Krah.

The Chinese-owned platform restricted Krah’s account “due to repeated violations of community guidelines on Tuesday,” a TikTok spokesperson said, adding “he shared conspiracy theories such as [the] theory of Great Replacement in his videos.” Great Replacement conspiracy theorists believe that white populations are set to be replaced by non-white people.

An aide in Krah’s European Parliament office said the politician’s team had objected to the decision and it “strive[s] to clear up the misunderstanding.”

The ban, which lasts 90 days, will be lifted after the European election. German voters head to the polls on June 9.

A POLITICO analysis this week showed European far-right politicians outperform their political opponents on TikTok. Far-right figures were quicker to get on the platform in droves, gained more followers and gathered more likes on TikTok than their counterparts from mainstream parties.

Social media platforms have faced criticism in past years for how they enforce content moderation policies on political parties and groups. The far right — especially in the U.S. — has often criticized platforms like Facebook and YouTube for what it deems is censorship of its views. On the other hand, mainstream parties have complained that the political debate on social media favors fringe, polarizing positions.

The EU is using its new tech regulation, the Digital Services Act, to force platforms like TikTok and Meta’s Facebook and Instagram to monitor and moderate political content more closely ahead of June’s EU election.