Four months before the general election, the authorities are preparing for disinformation campaigns and other disruptions.
The threat level is considered greater than in previous polls.
Munich - This one example is so important to Georg Thiel that he cites it several times, in the end almost half a dozen times. In the past, the integrity of postal voting has been questioned on social media, recalls the Federal Returning Officer. Specifically, it would mean that the urns would be opened in between to throw in documents - and, if necessary, to influence the result. Because this attack is aimed at the heart of democracy, Thiel cannot say it often enough: urns remain closed, manipulation is prevented, elections are safe.
A new Bundestag will be elected in four months' time.
The authorities have been preparing specifically for this day since last year, but they have known for a long time that massive disruptive maneuvers will come their way.
"We are dealing with a very complex threat situation," says Arne Schönbohm, President of the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI).
The view over the borders and the various attempts to influence was a foretaste of autumn 2021.
Plump like Trump?
Complex threat situation in the federal election 2021
At first glance, some of them were rather clumsy, like the accusation of election manipulation by Donald Trump, without ever providing any evidence.
Others came suddenly like the leaked documents about Emmanuel Macron shortly before the French presidential election in 2017. Schönbohm assumes that something similar is “attractive in Germany as the most economically powerful power in Europe”.
The main purpose of disinformation campaigns is to sow doubt.
On the political staff, on the electoral process and, consequently, on the result itself. In times of pandemics, the number of postal voters increases - Thiel expects a tripling - and the Internet as a source of information becomes even more important.
Federal election 2021: fear of hackers and "deep fakes"
Specifically, the authorities believe it is possible that hackers will try to take over the accounts of MPs and spread falsehoods via social media under a false flag.
Schönbohm also warns of "deep fakes", in which the faces of politicians are mounted in videos with a completely different statement: "On Youtube there are views in the millions."
There are not only empirical values from abroad.
In an earlier election in Germany, the news suddenly made the rounds on social networks that the polling stations were closing at 3 p.m., three hours earlier than planned.
That sounds amazingly simple at first.
But even simple maneuvers can be successful.
A recent poll showed that a quarter of Americans still think the presidential election is fake.
Russia has often been noticed as the originator of disinformation campaigns
In the past, Russia in particular has attracted attention as the originator of disinformation campaigns.
Even if the giant empire was not mentioned by name at yesterday's online press conference, it is clearly visible in the virtual space as the most prominent of the usual suspects.
But it would be wrong, says Schönbohm, “to say in this circle where we are expecting which attacks from.” Basically, he sees himself as a goalkeeper who has to avert any damage.
"Whether the shot comes from VfL Bochum or FC Bayern is secondary."
Incorrect information is corrected on the bundeswahlleiter.de website. There is a “red telephone” that connects the BSI with the IT managers on the major platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) and is intended to enable quick reactions to campaigns of lies. You tweet, check facts and are in constant contact with the parties. Sometimes it turns out to be difficult, says Thiel. He is often asked "which party I am in". Like he's biased. His only membership is with 1. FC Köln. "So you know what I'm going through."
(Marc Beyer)
