The German government is in “permanent” discussions over whether to delete its presence on the X platform due to concerns over its algorithms, a spokesperson said on Friday.
“This is a permanent consideration that we have to make again and again,” the spokesperson said, a day after a live talk on the platform between billionaire Elon Musk and the leader of Germany’s far-right party Alice Weidel.
During the talk Musk urged Germans to vote for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in an upcoming election in a conversation with its leader on his social media platform.
In a wide-ranging, sometimes stilted conversation that touched on immigration, German bureaucracy, energy policy, space colonisation, God and Adolf Hitler, Musk and AfD chancellor candidate Alice Weidel agreed that the AfD was the answer to Germany’s malaise.
“People really need to get behind AfD, otherwise things are going to get very, very much worse in Germany,” Musk said. “I think Alice Weidel is a very reasonable person. Nothing outrageous is being proposed.”
Musk was doubling down on his endorsement last month of the anti-immigration, anti-Islamic party labeled as right-wing-extremist by German security services, which has caused consternation in Berlin and accusations of undue influence.
Speaking in fluent English, Weidel expressed gratitude for Musk‘s support, saying that the opportunity to speak with Musk was the first time in 10 years that she had been allowed a platform to say her piece without interruption from a media world that, she said, was biased against her.
Asked by Musk to dispel any concerns that her party might be similar to Hitler’s Nazis, Weidel said the genocidal dictator “was a communist” whereas hers was a “conservative libertarian” party.
“The biggest success (of other parties) after that terrible era in our history was to label Adolf Hitler as right and conservative. He was exactly the opposite. He wasn’t a conservative, he wasn’t a libertarian. He was a communist socialist guy,” she said.
Weidel led the second half of the conversation, inviting Musk to explain his vision for peace in Ukraine, the colonisation of Mars and the concept of God. On the latter two points, Musk was forthcoming, but he declined to be drawn on Ukraine, saying a settlement was a matter for Trump.
