Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Document Type

Poster

Publication Date

Winter 12-3-2025

Faculty Advisor(s)

Lewis Luartz

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between social media political engagement and support for Germany's far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) party in 2021, arguing that the 2017 Network Enforcement Act (NetzDG) inadvertently displaced anti-immigration discourse from moderated public platforms into private encrypted spaces, fostering echo chambers and radicalization. Drawing on data from the German Longitudinal Election Study pre-election survey (N=5,119 nationally representative voters), logistic regression analyses test associations between AfD support and social media political use, controlling for socio-demographic and attitudinal factors. Findings confirm hypotheses: overall social media political engagement nearly doubles AfD support odds; private encrypted apps like Telegram and WhatsApp show strongest positive associations, while public platforms like Instagram exhibit negative links; and low-visibility sharing/forwarding uniquely predicts support, unlike public actions. Results highlight a regulatory paradox: broad content moderation can backfire by pushing extremists into unenforceable private spheres, intensifying dogmatic attitudes. Implications suggest prioritizing narrower laws, media literacy, and counter-speech over punitive measures to counter far-right mobilization.

Comments

Presented at the Fall 2025 Student Scholar Symposium at Chapman University.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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