A recent analysis commissioned by ZDF Magazin Royale has found that the number of German-language tweets on Twitter has significantly dropped in recent months and the diversity of opinion has also fallen. Additionally, the analysis found that “right-wing accounts” have become more active, with a “bubble” of these accounts sending 64 percent more tweets than in April 2021.
Social media analyst Luca Hammer and data journalist Martina Schories conducted the analysis using an archive of over a billion tweets from December 2020 to May 2023. The analysis found that 20 percent fewer tweets were sent in German in April 2023 and comparably smaller groups were less active.
The community of predominantly right-wing accounts which follow individuals such as Sahra Wagenknecht, Julian Reichelt and Alice Weidel were found to have become more active and have taken the lead in the Twitter groups. Meanwhile, groups around Rezo, Christian Drosten, Jan Böhmermann, the Tagesschau and Armin Wolf have become calmer.
The analysis makes it clear that the weightings of the various groups have shifted relative to each other for some time, but the connection between these changes and Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter cannot be read from the data. It has been noticed that right-wing extremists feel encouraged by Musk and anti-fascists have been blocked.
The analysis was published on the vogel.rip website and includes a list of answers from the Federal Office and the Federal Ministry of Justice to Twitter and the NetzDG.
