The German Far Right Finds Friends Through Facebook
In the lead-up to the Sept. 24 German election, anti-immigration posters for the AfD were plastered around the country. This one reads: “Burkas? We Like Bikinis.”
Photographer: Maja Hitij/Getty Images Europe
In the weeks leading up to the German election, the anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany party (AfD) knew that it was within striking distance of an historic milestone: becoming the first far-right national political party to win seats in parliament since the end of World War II. To hone its digital-media operation, the party hired a team of young American political operatives known for their work with nationalist candidates. Their firm, Harris Media, based in Austin, has a client list that’s included President Trump, Marine Le Pen’s National Front party in France, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Soon after landing in Berlin in early September, Harris Media’s vice president for content production, Joshua Canter, went to a meeting at Facebook Inc.’s gleaming new offices off Potsdamer Platz in the heart of the city. Up to then, the AfD’s ad campaign was decidedly low-tech and included catchy posters featuring scantily clad women along with the tag line: “Burkas? We Like Bikinis.” Founded in 2013, the AfD is still a work in progress, particularly online. The party had a robust presence of core supporters on social media, but it hadn’t yet weaponized the web to draw in new voters. Canter’s job was to use digital ads to micro-target Germans whose backgrounds made them likely converts, uncharted territory for the AfD. “They didn’t have contacts at Facebook, Twitter, or Google before we came in,” says Canter, 26.