German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, russian propagandists, russian fake

russian propagandists are stepping up disinformation attacks on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. One of the main narratives is built on Merz proposing to tighten control over digital platforms to combat "fake information." However, russian propaganda presents this as an attack on freedom of expression — not only in Germany, but across Europe. Propagandists amplify their messages with "dire predictions": "Tough times lie ahead for Europe in every respect, which is why they want to silence people." Details in the article.

In reality, this is a disingenuous distortion of a statement made by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz back on May 15, 2026, regarding the lack of regulation or responsibility of social media, where he called for greater accountability: https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/social-media-platforms-should-be-more-effectively-regulated-german-chancellor/3938935
Merz's exact words were as follows: "If the weekly newspaper Die Zeit published a false statement, one could immediately demand a retraction from the newspaper. Social media platforms, however, claim that they are not responsible for such matters [...] Individuals who make false statements on social media often cannot be identified by their real names. This means that in the wake of digitalization and the broader development of AI, we are facing completely new challenges."
This is fundamentally different from a desire to restrict freedom of expression, as russian propaganda falsely claims. In reality, the EU is looking for effective ways to counter the lack of proper social media regulation, which enables foreign information manipulation and interference (FIMI) that russia regularly exploits across the continent. It is no coincidence that this groundless claim appeared just days after the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU party (led by Merz) and the German Social Democrats, which outlines steps to combat disinformation and targeted foreign influence on electoral processes: https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/05/13/fact-check-what-are-the-german-coalitions-plans-to-clamp-down-on-disinformation
Based on materials from Spravdi.ua
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