A new report from the watchdog group Social Media Transparency.org (SMT) alleges that TikTok in Germany is being subjected to “industrial-scale” manipulation. The investigation claims that massive, coordinated networks of bots are artificially inflating engagement to “gouge” the platform's algorithm, successfully pushing far-right content—specifically supporting the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party—onto the feeds of millions of real users.

“What we're seeing is a systematic hijacking of TikTok's algorithm,” stated Dr. Thomas Schmidt, lead researcher for the Social Media Transparency.org report. “Coordinated bot networks are artificially manufacturing popularity for extremist content, creating a distorted reality where the far-right appears far more mainstream than it is. This isn't just about fake likes; it's a direct assault on the integrity of public opinion in Germany.”

The Scale of the Problem

The report begins by citing TikTok’s own admission regarding its cleanup efforts. In a single month connected to an election, TikTok reported removing "more than 700,000 fake accounts" in Germany. Furthermore, the platform stated it had proactively prevented over 24 million fake likes and removed another 17 million fake likes and 5.7 million fake followers.

SMT argues that these staggering numbers are not a sign of a healthy system, but evidence of a massive, ongoing attack. "The problem isn't that TikTok is removing accounts; it's that so many need to be removed in the first place," the report states. SMT estimates that in a network of 20 million German users, at least 1 million fake accounts were in operation.

Gouging the Algorithm

The goal of this inauthentic activity is to manipulate TikTok’s powerful recommendation algorithm. By generating artificial likes, comments, and shares, these bot networks make specific content appear highly popular. The algorithm then pushes this manipulated content onto the "For You" page of a much wider audience of genuine users.

According to Dr. Schmidt, this creates a "distorted perception of public opinion," making the AfD party or its positions seem far more mainstream and popular than they actually are.

The Evidence: How to Spot a Bot Network

SMT analyzed engagement on 100 profiles that showed suspicious entry onto the "For You" page and identified several key red flags that point to automation rather than human behavior:

• Empty Viral Accounts: The report identified numerous near-empty or brand-new accounts that suddenly generated tens of thousands of likes and hundreds of thousands of views on their first or second posts. Many of these accounts were dedicated exclusively to AfD promotions.
• The "Sub-Like" Anomaly: SMT pointed to "Likes on comments" (sub-likes) as a major indicator of fraud. Average human behavior results in 1–2 likes on a comment. On the promoted pro-AfD and Nazi-related posts, the average was 20–40. In some cases, a single comment would receive 34,000 likes while others received zero, showing a coordinated effort to boost specific messages to the top of the comment section.
• Inhuman Speed: The researchers proved the accounts were robots by analyzing timestamps. They found hundreds of occurrences where the same account posted comments on different videos just 0 to 4 seconds apart—a speed that is physically impossible for a human using the TikTok interface.
• Coordinated Commenters: There was massive overlap in the users commenting across these channels. The top 9% of commentators were responsible for 36% of all comments on the 49 profiles studied, indicating a centralized, coordinated operation.

Illegal Extremism and Hate Speech

Beyond political manipulation, the report slammed TikTok for its failure to moderate overt hate speech and Nazi content. SMT provided screenshots of content that remained on the platform, including videos with captions like "The Annihilation of the Jewish Race," promotion of Adolf Hitler’s "Mein Kampf," use of Sonnerad (Black Sun) imagery, and racist memes advocating against "mixing" races.

Conclusion

The report, authored by Dr. Thomas Schmidt, concludes that these networks are successfully polluting the platform with inauthentic activity. Despite the evidence, SMT states that TikTok has denied their ability to conduct such large-scale analysis on the platform. The watchdog asserts that its mission is to eliminate fraud that "misleads users, manipulates public opinion, and violates transparency standards."

Report

If you are part of the media, platforms, or governments - submit a request for the full report from Social Media Transparency.org

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