The BR24-#Faktenfuchs investigation from 24 October 2025 examines what is behind the mass of videos currently circulating on TikTok with false information about alleged measures taken by the German government. Fay Carathanassis, research officer in the Research Department at bidt and research assistant at the Chair of “Law and Security of Digitalisation” at the Technical University of Munich, classifies the dissemination of such videos in legal terms.
In a recent investigation, BR24-#Faktenfuchs identified hundreds of TikTok videos in which deceptive news videos spread false information about alleged measures taken by the German government. These so-called “cheap fakes” are currently flooding social networks and reaching millions of viewers in some cases. The structure is usually similar: images of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz are shown, the videos are AI-generated and the claimed political measures affect the general population in Germany. In order to generate credibility, the content of the videos is linked to real political debates.
In an interview with BR24-#Faktenfuchs, Fay Carathanassis explains the legal consequences of such content:
Under German law, you are free to express yourself however you want. This is protected by freedom of speech.
Fay Carathanassis To the profile
The bidt researcher explains that freedom of expression is nevertheless subject to legal limits that cover certain false allegations – for example in the event of a collision with another legal interest worthy of protection, in this case the right of personality.
In the case of deliberately false factual claims about people, in this case Friedrich Merz, the criminal offences of defamation or slander can be fulfilled. Hidden references to satire in the video description are insufficient to invalidate these criminal offences, Carathanassis continued. The more difficult prosecution of individual account operators due to anonymity on the internet could be circumvented by taking direct action against TikTok. Social media platforms are obliged under German and European law to delete illegal content. The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) also obliges large platforms to recognise and mitigate structural mechanisms that promote the dissemination of harmful content.
To the Article (in German)
