Likes for Antisemitism: The Alternative für Deutschland and Its Posts on Facebook

The Alternative fur Deutschland ’s (AfD) entry into the German Bundestag in September 2017 represented a shift in post-1945 German political tradition and the social acceptance of a party from the far right. During the election campaign, the AfD relied heavily on the social media mostly using Facebook to spread its agenda. This research on the AfD’s attitude toward National Socialism, the Holocaust and antisemitism on Facebook shows that the party utilizes antisemitic stereotypes to defame political opponents and that further, the AfD instrumentalizes events from the Third Reich to elevate perceived positive aspects and strives to rehabilitate certain facets of National Socialism. The article first shows how the AfD uses Facebook to spread its unfiltered political views. Then, three case studies posted by the AfD will be analyzed. Additionally, the comments under the Facebook posts are taken into account to show how their followers perceive antisemitic posts made by AfD officials. Keywords:  antisemitism, social media, Alternative fur Deutschland, German politics